Morphology, mechanical, and physical properties of wet‐spun cellulose acetate fiber in different solvent‐coagulant systems and in‐situ crosslinked environment

Abstract

AbstractWet spinning is a popular fiber manufacturing process where the effects of solvent and coagulant on the wet‐spun fiber are significant. In this study, we have explored the effect of solvent‐coagulant interaction and in‐situ crosslinking on the wet‐spun cellulose acetate (CA) fiber. Investigation on 12 different solvent‐coagulant systems revealed that variation in the systems resulted in significant variance in morphology and mechanical property of the fiber. Remarkable increase in mechanical property was observed after in‐situ crosslinking with citric acid and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Inclusion of sodium hypophosphite (NaH2PO2) as catalyst further increased tensile modulus (~407%) and crystallinity index (~46%) compared to CA fiber crosslinked with only citric acid. It was established that fiber from CA‐DMSO solution crosslinked with 10% citric acid and 10% PEG extruded in ethanol showed the highest tensile modulus (~30 MPa). This in‐depth study found an appropriate combination of solvent‐coagulant for forming stable CA fiber, with the addition of crosslinkers and catalyst further increasing the strength and usability of the fiber.