Characterization of melt spinnability of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers

This study investigates melt spinnability of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymers with various ethylene contents, which exhibits excellent biocompatibility but cannot easily undergo single-component fiber spinning. The chemical, thermal and rheological properties of EVOH were examined herein. Three EVOH copolymers, EV-32, 38 and 44, with different ratios of ethylene to vinyl alcohol (EV ratio), were used to evaluate the influence of the ratio on melt spinnability. The EV ratios of EV-32, EV-38 and EV-44 examined by nuclear magnetic resonance were 0.64, 0.82 and 1.0, respectively. The experimental results reveal that the melting temperature ( Tm) and crystallinity ( Xc) of EVOH decreased in the order EV-32 (178.9℃, 46.6 wt%) > EV-38 (171.9℃, 41.8 wt%) > EV-44 (166.0℃, 40.0 wt%). The thermal stability, however, increases in the order EV-32 < EV-38 < EV-44. The viscosity decreases in the order EV-32 > EV-38 > EV-44. EV-44 has much higher flow activation energy than EV-32 and EV-38, indicating that it has a temperature sensitivity higher than EV-32 and EV-38. The pellets of EV-32, EV-38 and EV-44 were melt spun. Three as-spun fibers, EV-32, EV-38 and EV-44 have cross-sectional diameters of 151.3, 150.9 and 154.1 µm and tensile stresses (strain (%) at breaking point) of 123.1 (205.2%), 121.4 (202.0%) and 131.1 MPa (180.2%), respectively. Most importantly, EV-44 can easily be spun at a relatively low temperature, 245℃, while the other two, EV-38 and EV-32, can hardly be made on condition that the spinning temperatures are higher than 255℃ and 265℃, respectively. Notably, once the spinning temperature of EVOH polymers was higher than 258℃, the degradation of vinyl alcohol segments would cause fuming and broken filaments to eventually terminate the entire spinning process. Ultimately, a brand new fiber, EVOH, with an EV ratio of 1.0, was successfully melt spun and mechanically characterized in this study.