Preparation and properties of supercritical carbon dioxide⁃plasticized melt⁃blown polyethylene fiber film

doi:10.19491/j.issn.1001-9278.2025.10.004

Abstract

Abstract:

Low⁃density polyethylene （PE⁃LD） microfiber membranes are promising materials for medical， protective， and construction applications due to their corrosion resistance， hydrophobicity， and flexibility. However， conventional manufacturing processes face limitations. This study introduces a novel method for producing PE⁃LD membranes using supercritical carbon dioxide （SC⁃CO₂） as a plasticizing agent in a melt⁃blowing process. We systematically investigated the effects of key process parameters， including SC⁃CO₂ impregnation， hot air temperature， hot air flow rate， and metering pump speed， on the fiber morphology， crystallization behavior， and resulting properties. The results indicated that SC⁃CO₂ treatment， elevated hot air temperature， increased air flow， and reduced pump speed all contributed to a significant reduction in fiber diameter， achieving an average of 3.88 µm. Furthermore， SC⁃CO₂ and higher temperatures enhanced crystallinity. The optimized membrane exhibited excellent performance after hot⁃pressing： a filtration efficiency of 72.9 % with a remarkably low⁃pressure drop of 51.4 Pa， tensile strength of 4.5 MPa， and elongation at break of 30 %. This work establishes the SC⁃CO₂⁃assisted melt⁃blowing process as a highly effective and novel strategy for manufacturing high⁃performance PE⁃LD microfiber membranes with tunable properties.

Key words: supercritical carbon dioxide, melt?blown, low density polyethylene, fibrous membrane, filtering performance, mechanical property

CLC Number:

TQ325.1⁺2

HOU Qinzheng, LIU Wenlong, LI Changjin, QIN Liu, DING Yumei, LI Haoyi, YANG Weimin, HOU Zhengyuan. Preparation and properties of supercritical carbon dioxide⁃plasticized melt⁃blown polyethylene fiber film[J]. China Plastics, 2025, 39(10): 18-24.

Figures/Tables 12

Fig.1. Schematic diagram of the supercritical carbon dioxide infiltrating device

Fig.2. Schematic diagram of the melt⁃blow testing machine

组号	实验变量	实验变量组设置	材料处理方式
1	热风温度	230、250、270、290、310 ℃	未浸润/SC⁃CO₂浸润
2	热风流量	520、600、680、760、840 L/min	未浸润/SC⁃CO₂浸润
3	计量泵转速	11、13、15、17、19 r/min	未浸润/SC⁃CO₂浸润

Tab.1. Experimental group setting table

Fig.3. The average fiber diameter and morphology of supercritical carbon dioxide plasticized melt⁃jet and mainstream melt⁃jet PE⁃LD at different hot air temperatures

Fig.4. The average fiber diameter and morphology of supercritical carbon dioxide plasticized melt⁃jet and mainstream melt⁃jet PE⁃LD under different hot air flow rates

Fig.5. The average fiber diameter and morphology of supercritical carbon dioxide plasticized melt⁃blown PE⁃LD and conventional melt⁃blown PE⁃LD at different metering pump speeds

Fig.6. XRD curves of supercritical carbon dioxide plasticized melt⁃jet spinning PE⁃LD at different hot air temperatures

Fig.7. Crystallinity and grain size of supercritical carbon dioxide plasticized melt⁃jet spinning PE⁃LD at different hot air temperatures

Fig.8. XRD curves of raw materials and different process materials

实验条件	晶粒度/A	结晶度/%
310 ℃超临界浸润	141	26.80
310 ℃未超临界浸润	187	20.54
MG6000原料	127	16.82

Tab.2. Grain size and crystallinity of raw materials and different process materials

Fig.9. Filtration efficiency and filtration resistance of supercritical and non⁃supercritical samples at different metering pump speeds

Fig.10. Tensile strength， elongation at break of supercritical carbon dioxide plasticized melt⁃jet spinning PE⁃LD samples before and after hot pressing under different hot air temperatures

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