Polyurethane or Elastomeric Fibers

Polyurethane or Elastomeric is a general term of high polymer compound having

urethane combination on the main chain of high polymer, and consists of repetitive
structure of soft segment and hard segment.

By ratio adjustment between soft segment and hard segment, it is possible to

produce various particle designs from elastomer having rubber elasticity to
engineering plastic with hardness.

 If soft segment ratio is higher, strength is lower being soft rubber structure,
and the intertwined structure of soft segment enables to have higher
elongation ratio.
 To the contrary, higher hard segment has higher hardness with strong
rigidity.
Chemistry

Many raw materials are used to make the unique stretchable elastane fibers. They
include prepolymers which produce the backbone of the fiber, stabilizers which
protect the integrity of the polymer, and textile colorants to give attractive shades
to the fibers.

Two kinds of prepolymers are reacted to produce the spandex fiber polymer back-
bone- the flexible macroglycol and the rigid diisocyanate.

1. Macroglycol can be anything from among polyester, polyether,

polycarbonate or some combination of these. These are long and flexible
chain polymers having hydroxyl groups (-OH) on both ends, responsible for
the stretching characteristic of spandex.

2. The polymeric diisocyanate is a shorter and rigid chain polymer, having an

isocyanate (-NCO) group on both ends. This molecule provides strength to
the spandex fibers.

3. Catalyst such as diazobicyclo octane is used to initiate reaction between the

two types of prepolymers.

The diisocyanate and polyol react randomly to form soft segments while the
diisocyanate and diol form hard segments. The entire Polyurethane polymer chain
then consists of alternating sequences of hard and soft segments.
Manufacturing Process

Spandex fibers can be manufactured in three different ways - melt spinning,

solution dry spinning, and solution wet spinning.

The most commonly used method is the solution dry spinning that produces over
90% of the world's spandex fibers.

o Prepolymer is produced by mixing a macroglycol with a diisocyanate

monomer in ideal ratio of 1:2.

o In the chain extension reaction, the prepolymer is reacted with an equal

amount of diamine. It results in a solution which is diluted with a solvent to
produce the spinning solution. The solvent makes the solution thinner which
can be easily handled. It can then be pumped into the fiber production cell.

o The polymer solution is pumped through a spinneret.

o The strands passing through the cell are heated in the presence of a nitrogen
and solvent gas.

o The liquid polymer gets chemically reacted and forms into solid strands.

o A specific amount of the solid strands are bundled together to produce the
desired thickness with the help of a compressed air device that twists the
filaments together.

o The filaments are finally treated with textile finishing chemicals that can be
magnesium stearate or other polymer such as poly (dimethyl-siloxane).
These finishes prevent the filaments from sticking together.

o Filaments are then transferred through a series of rollers onto a spool at a

wind up speed of 300-500 m/min.
Yarn