Improved Thermal Bonding Behaviour of Polypropylene Non-wovens by Blending Different Molecular Weights of PP

Polypropylene filaments were spun from a mixture of PP chips of two different Melt Flow Index (MFI) (3 MFI and 35 MFI). A significant difference was observed in the melting characteristics of the resultant filaments from either of the individual components as observed from the DSC. The main difference being in the degree of melting achieved at any temperature in the initial stages of the melting range, which was found to be higher in case of the filaments spun from the b]end. These filaments were then thermally bonded using silicon oil bath and heated roller method. Subsequently the bond strength of the filaments was measured on the Instron Tensile Tester using the loop technique. The values of the world strengths obtained from the blend were compared with those made from the individual component. It was found that the bond strength of the bonds obtained from the blended filament at a given temperature was higher than that of the bonds made from the filaments of either of the individual components, which is also suggested by the DSC curves. The difference in the bond strength was found to be as high as 25% in case of the blend with 60:40 composition ratios of the 3 MFI and 35 MFI components respectively.