| abstract |
Water non-dispersible polymer microfibers comprising at least one water non-dispersible polymer are provided which have an equivalent diameter of less than 5 μm and a short length of less than 25 mm. A method for producing water non-dispersible polymer microfibers comprising: a) cutting multicomponent fibers into cut multicomponent fibers; b) contacting the fiber-containing feedstock with water to produce a fiber mix slurry (here Wherein the fiber-containing feedstock comprises cut multicomponent fibers), c) heating the fiber mix slurry to produce a heated fiber mix slurry, and d) optionally, the fiber mix slurry. And e) removing at least a portion of the sulfopolyester from the multicomponent fiber to produce a slurry mixture comprising a sulfopolyester dispersion and water non-dispersible polymer microfibers. And f) a method comprising separating water non-dispersible polymer microfibers from the slurry mixture. Also provided is a method of making a nonwoven article. |