Seville scientists discover faster way to make fibre filaments
30/04/2019
Working with viscous liquids, of the type usually used to make products that come in drops, a University of Seville research team discovered that it could form filaments of a thickness of around 50 micrometres, about one-third of the thickness of the average human hair.
Specifically, researchers found that, instead of fragmenting into drops, a polyethylene oxide solution stretched to form filaments and quickly identified protective textiles as one possible application for the fibres.
One member of the team, Professor Alfonso Gañán, said that the filaments would have to be made in large quantities to be able to make such materials on an industrial scale. “This is where our study takes on particular relevance,” he added, “because it lays down the foundations of a new process that will allow us to produce filaments or fibres at a rate of around 3 kilos per hour using a simple nebulizer. The most common production techniques at the moment can produce around 1 gramme per hour.”
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