What is island fiber? Are there islands in the fiber? - China Garment Website_China's popular garment and fashion information platform

Sea-island fiber, also known as super-conjugate fiber and matrix fibrillar fiber, is a core component (also called “island” phase or dispersed phase) composed of one polymer material dispersed in another in a longitudinally continuous form. It is formed in the sea component (also called the “sea” phase or continuous phase) composed of polymer materials. And because the dispersed phase fibrils are in an island state in the fiber cross section, they are called sea-island fibers.

The development history of island fiber

Sea Island fiber was first developed in the early 1970s and was initially used to produce suede-like fabrics.

In 1970, Japan’s Toray Corporation first introduced dissolution to the market The artificial deerskin fabric “ECSAINA” made of type microfiber (island type microfiber) marks the beginning of the industrial production of island type composite microfiber.

In 1972, Japan China Textile Company also successfully developed the dissolving type Polyester-nylon composite fiber, trade name “BELIMA”.

In recent years, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, the United States and Italy have all carried out development and production. Island fibers in Japan, the United States, and Europe have all been industrially produced with relatively complete technologies. South Korea and Taiwan also have some quite representative products.

my country began to study island composite microfibers in the early 1970s , but it was not until the 1990s that substantial progress was made, and it was included in the national science and technology development plan during the “Seventh Five-Year Plan” period.

Sea Island Fiber Production Technology

Sea-island fiber is produced by composite spinning and blending spinning. This method is used to obtain composite sea-island fibers and blended sea-island fibers respectively. The island components generally use PET and PA, and the sea components mostly use COPET, PVA, PE, PS, etc. The production method of island fiber is as follows:

according The soluble components in the fiber are island phase or marine phase. Composite island fiber is divided into fixed island type sea island fiber and non-fixed island type sea island fiber.

The fixed island type good island fiber dissolves the “island” in it to obtain hollow fiber, and the non-fixed island type sea island fiber dissolves After the “sea”, we get the island-type microfiber.

Left: hollow fiber; right: microfiber

Characteristics of sea-island fibers

Sea island fiber has excellent properties that ordinary fibers cannot achieve. Its main characteristics are as follows:

1) The island fiber has extremely small fineness, which makes the fabric feel soft and smooth, and has obvious advantages in comfort. It can obtain high density, hygroscopicity, water repellency, and unique aesthetics and fashion. Fabrics with style. At the same time, it can form a multi-layer structure on the surface of the fabric, making the fabric have small reflective spots, soft luster and color, and a plump, clean and delicate appearance.

2) There are many and dense gaps between fibers, and their capillary action can be used Make the fabric better water and oil absorbent. In addition, by appropriately changing the gaps between fibers, it can be woven into island high-density fabrics with gaps of only 0.2μm~10μm, which has excellent waterproof and breathable properties. The microporous structure between the fabrics allows more static air in the fabric, thus achieving better thermal insulation and warmth retention.

3) The fiber has low bending stiffness, making it easy for the fabric to become elegant , chic effect; the core layer is made of high shrinkage yarn, which gives the fabric excellent drape and visual comfort.

4) The fiber has a large specific surface area and many gaps, which makes the fabric extremely dust-absorbing, decontaminating and filtering; the fiber is fine and soft, which can protect the items being cleaned from being injured, and is high-performance Cleaning products.

In addition, island fiber fabrics not only have the characteristics of synthetic fibers It has the characteristics of no ironing, good dimensional stability and low shrinkage. It also has the advantages of natural fibers such as good drape, moisture absorption and moisture permeability.

Island fiber process flow

Take alkali-soluble modified COPET/PA6 island composite ultra-fine short fiber as an example, COPET/ PA6 is produced through conjugate composite spinning technology with COPET as the “sea” component and PA6 as the “island” component. The process flow is as follows:

PA6 /Take low-density polyethylene indefinite island-type sea-island fiber as an example. Using the blending melt spinning method, sea-island ultrafine fibers can be obtained. The process flow is as follows:

Application of island fiber

Fashion fabrics

Because the number of monofilaments of microfiber is more than that of ordinary filaments, the surface area of the fiber is large, and the breathability of the fabric is increased. After passing through the non-woven fabric, the non-woven fabric is used as the base fabric, which is polished and After sand washing, it is made into super-natural fabrics. Because its breathability and softness are superior to natural textiles, chemical fiber fabrics have entered the field of high-end fashion.

Artificial leather

PU leather with fine fiber as the base cloth not only has the same It has a similar microstructure to natural leather, good moisture permeability, dimensional stability, and various fastnesses than natural leather. It also avoids the large unevenness of natural products due to differences in animal types, sizes and parts, and is effectively used. Small defects. In addition, PU leather also overcomes the phenomenon that natural leather is susceptible to moisture, mildew, and odor due to its own protein fibers, and is very popular among consumers.

High-performance wiper

Superfine fiber is smaller than The surface area is large, the softness is good, and the water-absorbing power is strong. After wiping the thin oil film, it will not damage the base material, but also wipe it clean without leaving any residue. It can be used as a high-performance wiping cloth, such as a high-end wiping cloth. Mirror cloth, etc.