Use of polymer composition on making soft nonwoven fabrics

1 . A process for producing crimped multicomponent fibers having a side-by-side cross-sectional configuration, the process comprising:

providing a polymer composition comprising a first propylene polymer A and a second propylene polymer B; and

forming the crimped multicomponent fibers having the side-by-side cross-sectional configuration from the polymer composition, wherein

(i) the first propylene polymer A and second propylene polymer B are distributed over the cross section of a fiber in a side-by-side arrangement,

(ii) a mass ratio of the first propylene polymer A and the second propylene polymer B [A:B] is in the range of 10:90 to 90:10,

(iii) an absolute value of the difference of the crystallization temperature [Tc (A)] of the first propylene polymer A and the crystallization temperature [Tc (B)] of the second propylene polymer B determined according to ISO11357 with a scan rate of 10° C./min is in the range of 6 to 30° C., and

an interface line, contained in a radial plane of the fibers, between the two propylene polymers (A) and (B) is curved and its curvature (c) is

c

=

h

b

=

0.05

to

0.25

wherein the baseline length (b) is the length of an imaginary straight baseline connecting two endpoints of a curved interface line, and the bow height (h) is a distance of a crest of the curved interface line from a baseline.

2 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the interface line, contained in the radial plane of the fibers, between the two propylene polymers (A) and (B) is curved and its curvature (c) is

c

=

h

b

=

0.1

to

0.2

wherein the baseline length (b) is the length of the imaginary straight baseline connecting the two endpoints of the curved interface line, and the bow height (h) is the distance of the crest of the curved interface line from the baseline.

3 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the first propylene polymer A is a propylene homopolymer or a propylene/α-olefin random copolymer, the first propylene polymer A having a melt flow rate (MFR, 230° C., 2.16 kg, ISO 1133) of 15 to 120 g/10 min, and/or having a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) in the range of 2.5 to 10.0 (measured by size exclusion chromatography according to ISO 16014).

4 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the first propylene polymer A has

(i) a melting temperature T m (DSC, ISO 11357-1 &- 2 ) in the range of 150° C. to 164° C.,

(ii) a crystallization temperature T c (DSC, ISO 11357-1 &- 2 ) in the range of 90° C. to 135° C., and

(iii) a comonomer content<1.0 wt %.

5 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the first propylene polymer A has

(i) a melting temperature T m (DSC, ISO 11357-1 &- 2 ) in the range of 142° C. to 155° C.,

(ii) a crystallization temperature T c (DSC, ISO 11357-1 &- 2 ) in the range of 80° C. to 125° C., and

(iii) a comonomer content in the range of 1.0-5.5 wt %.

6 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the second propylene polymer B is a propylene homopolymer or a propylene/α-olefin random copolymer, the second propylene polymer B having a melt flow rate (MFR, 230° C., 2.16 kg, ISO 1133) of 15 to 120 g/10 min, and/or having a molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) in the range of 2.5 to 10.0 (measured by size exclusion chromatography according to ISO 16014).

7 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the second propylene polymer B has

(i) a melting temperature T m (DSC, ISO 11357-1 &- 2 ) in the range of 150° C. to 164° C.,

(ii) a crystallization temperature T c (DSC, ISO 11357-1 &- 2 ) in the range of 90° C. to 135° C., and

(iii) comonomer content<1.0 wt %.

8 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the second propylene polymer B has

(i) a melting temperature T m (DSC, ISO 11357-1 &- 2 ) in the range of 142° C. to 155° C.,

(ii) a crystallization temperature T c (DSC, ISO 11357-1 &- 2 ) in the range of 80° C. to 125° C., and

(iii) a comonomer content 1.0-5.5 wt %.

9 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the first propylene polymer A and second propylene polymer B are different, and at least one of the propylene polymers (A and B) is visbroken.

10 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein only one of the propylene polymers (A and B) is visbroken, and the absolute value of the difference of Mz/Mw between propylene polymer A and propylene polymer B is from 0.3 to 10.0.

11 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein both of the propylene polymers (A and B) are visbroken, and the absolute value of the difference of Mz/Mw between propylene polymer A and propylene polymer B is from 0.0 to 0.3.

12 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the propylene polymers A and B is nucleated, and the amount of nucleating agent is between 0.01-5000 ppm based on the total amount of the nucleated propylene polymer.

13 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the first propylene polymer A is a propylene homopolymer and the second propylene polymer B is a propylene/a-olefin random copolymer.

14 . The process according to claim 12 , wherein the amount of first propylene polymer A is less than the amount of second propylene polymer B.