Effects of Spinning Speed and Heat Treatment on the Mechanical Property and Biodegradability of Polylactic Acid Fibers

This study was carried out to suggest the optimal spinning process condition which provides a proper range of tenacity and biodegradability as textile fibers. The effects of the melt spinning speed and heat treatment on the mechanical property and biodegradability of polylactic acid fiber were investigated. Polylactic acid(PLA) was spun in a high spinning speed of . Each specimen was heat-treated at during 30min. Mechanical properties such as breaking stress and the degree of crystallinity were evaluated using WAXS. Biodegradability was estimated from the decrease of breaking stress, weight loss, and the degree of crystallinity after soil burial. Experimental results revealed that heat treated specimens showed higher breaking stress than untreated specimens, but the increase was not so high as was expected from the remarkable change of crystallinity by heat treatment. It was concluded that breaking stress was more influenced by spinning speed than heat treatment. In the soil burial test, however biodegradability calculated from weight loss was more influenced by heat treatment than spinning speed.