Fibrillation of the Mixtures of Crystallizable, Amorphous and Poorly Crystalline Polymers

The paper gives a brief review of investigations devoted to the formation of ultrathin fibres in the flow of melt of mixtures of thermodynamically incompatible polymers through forming ducts (fibrillation phenomenon). It considers the mechanism of the process, the role of rheological factors in the initiation of fibrillation, and the peculiarities of viscoelastic properties of melts of polymer mixtures for which this phenomenon is clearly observed. The paper shows the possibility to control the fibrillation process by varying the deformation conditions, rheological properties of mixture components, the introduction of plasticizer, surface-active substance, and varying the degree of dispersion of fibre-forming component. It also points out a number of characteristic properties and structural features of ultrathin synthetic fibres in comparison with the fibres formed using ordinary technology.