High-performance mono-material hybrid yarns and textiles
Novel yarns for use in manufacturing fully sustainable textiles are provided. The yarns can be composite yarns made of two or more monofilament or multi-filament yarns, including an elastic core and a sheath disposed around the elastic core. Each of the core and the sheath are made of hydrocarbons (e.g., polyethylene and various derivatives thereof) and/or other fully-recyclable materials. The performance of the resulting yarns is on par with, if not better than, existing yarns, fabrics, and fibers with respect to tenacity, elasticity, and auxetic performance. As a result, textiles can be made from the yarns, and then the textiles themselves can be fully recyclable such that the textile can be recycled and then a new textile can be formed from the same materials of the old textile. Methods of formulating the yarns and textiles are also provided.
1 . A yarn, comprising:
at least one continuous elastic core filament; and
at least one continuous sheath filament distinct from the at least one continuous core filament, the at least one continuous sheath filament including a polyethylene homopolymer of copolymer having a first tensile strength value of at least 0.3 GPa:
wherein the at least one continuous elastic core; filament comprises an olefin block copolymer having a block structure with at least one soft segment and at least one hard segment, and exhibits elongation at break of at least 300% and elastic recovery of at least 60% under 300% stretch deformation;
wherein the at least one continuous sheath filament is helically wound around the at least one elastic core filament to form a core sheath yarn, and
wherein, after the yarn is melt-reprocessed to obtain a reprocessed material, the melt-reprocessing occurring without separating the at least one continuous elastic core filament and the at least one continuous sheath filament from one another prior to melt-reprocessing, the reprocessed material is capable of being re-extruded into a yarn that retains at least 80% of the first tensile strength value.
2 . The yarn of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one continuous elastic core filament or the at least one continuous sheath filament comprises at least one of single component fiber, bi-component fiber, or tri-component fiber.
3 . The yarn of claim 2 , wherein the at least one of single component fiber, bi-component fiber, or tri-component fiber comprises at least one of a core-sheath fiber type, a side-by-side fiber type, or an islands-in-the sea fiber type.
4 . The yarn of claim 1 , wherein the at least one continuous sheath filament comprises at least one of a low density polyethylene (LDPE), a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), a medium density polyethylene (MDPE), a high density polyethylene (HDPE), an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), an olefin block co-polymer (OBC), or a blend of any of the same.
5 . The yarn of claim 1 , wherein the yarn exhibits elastic recovery approximately in the range of about 90% to about 100% after being axially stretched to reach 100% strain deformation.
6 . A yarn, comprising:
at least one elastic core filament; and
at least one continuous sheath filament distinct from the at least one continuous elastic core filament, the at least one continuous sheath filament comprising a polyethylene homopolymer or copolymer having a tensile strength of at least 0.3 GPa;
wherein the at least one continuous elastic core, filament comprises an olefin block copolymer having a block structure with at least one soft segment and at least one hard segment,
wherein the yarn exhibits a Poisson ratio approximately in a range from about −0.1 to about −20 when uniaxially stretched,
wherein the at least one continuous sheath filament is helically wound around the at least one continuous elastic core filament to form a core sheath yarn, and
wherein a ratio of the Young's modulus of the at least one continuous elastic core filament to the Young's modulus of the at least one continuous sheath filament is between 8 and 35, and
wherein, after the yarn is melt-reprocessed to obtain a reprocessed material, the melt-reprocessing occurring without separating the at least one continuous elastic core filament and the at least one continuous sheath filament from one another prior to melt-reprocessing, the reprocessed material is capable of being re-extruded into a yarn that retains at least 80% of the first tensile strength value.
7 . The yarn of claim 6 , wherein neither the polyethylene nor an olefin block copolymer, when it is present in at least one of the at least one continuous elastic core filament or the at least one continuous sheath filament, is cross-linked.
8 . The yarn of claim 1 , wherein the yarn is fully-recyclable either mechanically or chemically while maintaining a tensile strength of the yarn such that a recycled yarn formed from the yarn has at least the same tensile strength as the yarn.
9 . The yarn of claim 1 , wherein the yarn is fully-recyclable both mechanically and chemically while maintaining a tensile strength of the yarn such that a recycled yarn formed from the yarn has at least the same tensile strength as the yarn.
10 . A method of making a recyclable elastic yarn, comprising:
melt-spin processing at least one continuous elastic core filament from an olefin block copolymer having a block structure with at least one soft segment and at least one bard segment;
melt-spin processing at least one continuous sheath filament from a polyethylene homopolymer or copolymer having a tensile strength of at least 0.3 GPa; and
feeding the at least one continuous elastic core filament, under tension, to reach at least 100% elongation, and releasing the tension after the elastic van is formed, and
feeding the at least one continuous sheath filament, without tension, and helically winding it around the core filament to form a core-sheath yarn in which the at least one continuous sheath filament is helically wound around the at least one continuous elastic core filament;
wherein the at least one continuous elastic core filament and the at least one sheath filament are non-cross-linked all-hydrocarbon polyolefin polymers.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least one continuous sheath filament comprises at least one of a low density polyethylene (LDPE), a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), a medium density polyethylene (MDPE), a high density polyethylene (HDPE), an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), an olefin block co-polymer (OBC), or a blend of any of the same.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the yarn is fully-recyclable either mechanically or chemically while maintaining a tensile strength of the original yarn in the fully-recyclable yarn.
13 . A method of manufacturing a textile, comprising:
manufacturing a textile that comprises the yarn of claim 1 ;
adding any other yarns of a low density polyethylene (LDPE), a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), a medium density polyethylene (MDPE), a high density polyethylene (HDPE), an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), an olefin block co-polymer (OBC), or a blend of any of the same; and
adding one or more accessories to the textile, the one or more accessories comprising one or more of a low density polyethylene (LDPE), a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), a medium density polyethylene (MDPE), a high density polyethylene (HDPE), an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), an olefin block co-polymer (OBC), or a blend of any of the same.
14 . A method of manufacturing a textile, comprising:
manufacturing a textile that comprises the yarn of claim 6 ;
adding any other yarns of a low density polyethylene (LDPE), a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), a medium density polyethylene (MDPE), a high density polyethylene (HDPE), an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), an olefin block co-polymer (OBC), or a blend of any of the same; and
adding one or more accessories to the textile, the one or more accessories comprising one or more of a low density polyethylene (LDPE), a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), a medium density polyethylene (MDPE), a high density polyethylene (HDPE), an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), an olefin block co-polymer (OBC), or a blend of any of the same.
15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the yarn exhibits an auxetic behavior with a negative Poisson ratio approximately in a range from about −0.1 to about−20.
16 . The yarn of claim 1 , wherein the yarn is a fancy yarn.
17 . The yarn of claim 1 , wherein neither the polyethylene nor an olefin block copolymer, when it is present in at least one of the at least one continuous elastic core filament or the at least one continuous sheath filament, is cross-linked.
18 . The yarn of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one continuous sheath filaments has a diameter between about 25 microns and about 75 microns.
19 . The yarn of claim 6 , wherein each of the at least one continuous sheath filaments has a diameter between about 25 microns and about 75 microns.