Method for fabricating fiber products and composites

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9534320-B2
Application number	US-201213984673-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 8, 2012
Priority date	Feb 10, 2011
Publication date	Jan 3, 2017
Grant date	Jan 3, 2017

Abstract

Method for fabricating fiber and film products and composites includes: introducing an aqueous gel of nanofibrillar cellulose into a volume of organic extraction agent miscible with water so that the aqueous gel is kept as a separate phase and forms one or several discrete physical entities containing the nanofibrillar cellulose within the phase; changing water with the organic extraction agent in said one or several discrete physical entities of nanofibrillar cellulose; and drying the nanofibrillar cellulose by removing the organic extraction agent from the one or several discrete physical entities of nanofibrillar cellulose. In the method the aqueous gel of nanofibrillar cellulose is introduced into the volume of organic extraction agent in the form of one or several elongated elements which form a fiber-like or ribbon-like or film-like product after drying.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Method for fabricating fiber products, film products, or composites,
comprising:
introducing an aqueous gel of nanofibrillar cellulose into a volume of organic extraction agent miscible with water so that the aqueous gel is kept as a separate phase and forms one or several discrete physical entities containing the nanofibrillar cellulose within the phase and so that the aqueous gel does not become dispersed in the organic extraction agent,
changing water with the organic extraction agent in the one or several discrete physical entities of nanofibrillar cellulose, and
drying the nanofibrillar cellulose by removing the organic extraction agent from the one or several discrete physical entities of nanofibrillar cellulose;
the method further comprising:
introducing the aqueous gel of nanofibrillar cellulose into the volume of organic extraction agent in the form of one or several elongated elements that form a fiber-shape or ribbon-shape or film-shape product after drying, and/or
incorporating at least one substance into the one or several discrete physical entities through the aqueous gel and/or through the extraction agent to make a composite of nanofibrillar cellulose and the substance, wherein
the at least one substance is selected from the group consisting of a polymer, either as such or in the form of precursors, an active drug molecule, an extra cellular matrix component, serum, a growth factor, and a protein.

2. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or several discrete physical entities are one or several elongated elements which form the fiber-shape, ribbon-shape or film-shape product.

3. Method according to claim 2 , wherein the strength of the one or several elongated elements is increased by stretching.

4. Method according to claim 3 , wherein the fiber-shape or ribbon-shape product is processed further to yarn.

5. Method according to claim 3 , wherein the fiber-shape or ribbon-shape product is processed further to a 2- or 3-dimensional structure.

6. Method according to claim 3 , wherein the fiber-shape or ribbon-shape product, or yarn or a 2- or 3-dimensional structure processed from it, is incorporated in a composite as reinforcement.

7. Method according to claim 3 , wherein the film-shape product is incorporated in a composite as reinforcement.

8. Method according to claim 2 , wherein the fiber-shape or ribbon-shape product is processed further to yarn.

9. Method according to claim 2 , wherein the fiber-shape or ribbon-shape product is processed further to a 2- or 3-dimensional structure.

10. Method according to claim 2 , wherein the fiber-shape or ribbon-shape product, or yarn or a 2- or 3-dimensional structure processed from it, is incorporated in a composite as reinforcement.

11. Method according to claim 10 , wherein the substance incorporated in the one or several physical entities is a polymer either as such or in the form of precursors and the polymer forms polymer matrix or part of it in the composite.

12. Method according to claim 11 , wherein the polymer is a hydrophobic polymer which is dissolved in the extraction agent volume and enters the physical entities from the extraction agent volume.

13. Method according to claim 11 , wherein the polymer is a hydrophilic polymer which is dissolved in the aqueous gel of nanofibrillar cellulose and is incorporated in the physical entities when the aqueous gel is introduced into the extraction agent volume.

14. Method according to claim 2 , wherein the film-shape product is incorporated in a composite as reinforcement.

15. Method according to claim 2 , wherein 2- or 3-dimensional fiber structures are formed by depositing the elongated elements in situ in the volume of organic extraction agent to 2- or 3-dimensional structures.

16. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer is a hydrophobic polymer which is dissolved in the extraction agent volume and enters the physical entities from the extraction agent volume.

17. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the polymer is a hydrophilic polymer which is dissolved in the aqueous gel of nanofibrillar cellulose and is incorporated in the physical entities when the aqueous gel is introduced into the extraction agent volume.

18. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the several physical entities are made to particles containing the nanofibrillar cellulose and the incorporated substance.

19. Method according to claim 18 , wherein the incorporated substance is a polymer either as such or in the form of precursors.

20. Method according to claim 19 , wherein the particles are used as at least one starting material in melt-processing or solvent processing and an article containing the polymer and the nanofibrillar cellulose is manufactured by the melt processing or solvent processing.

21. Method according to claim 20 , wherein the melt processing is extrusion molding.

22. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the organic extraction agent is selected from a water-miscible alcohol, dioxane and THF.

23. Method according to claim 1 , wherein the nanofibrillar cellulose is functionalized cellulose.

24. Method according to claim 23 , wherein the nanofibrillar cellulose contains aldehyde, carboxyl, carboxymethyl or cationic groups in the cellulose molecules.

25. Method according to claim 1 comprising:
making the fiber product in the form of an elongated continuous filament or thread, which contains rearranged nanocellulose fibrils giving structural integrity and stiffness to the fiber product,
wherein a tensile modulus of the fiber product is at least 20 GPa, making a 2- or 3-dimensional structure from the fiber product, and incorporating the fiber product as a reinforcement in composites, or

including a functional substance in the fiber product so that the fiber product acts as a carrier material for functional substances.

26. Method according to claim 25 , wherein the functional substance is an electrically conducting substance.

27. Method according to claim 26 , wherein the electrically conducting substance is a conducting polymer.

28. Method according to claim 25 , wherein a tensile strength of the fiber product is at least 250 Mpa.

29. Method according to claim 25 , wherein the nanocellulose fibrils are rearranged by at least partial orientation.

Assignees

• Laukkanen Antti
• Teirfolk Jan-Erik
• Nuopponen Markus Samuli
• Walther Andreas
• Ikkala Olli
• Upm Kymmene Corp

Inventors

• Laukkanen Antti
• Teirfolk Jan-Erik
• Nuopponen Markus Samuli
• Walther Andreas
• Ikkala Olli

Classifications

• Y02W30/648

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• D01D5/06

  Wet spinning methods {(D01D5/0046 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• D21H27/10

  Packing paper (packaging materials of special type or form B65D65/38) · CPC title

• C08J5/24

  Impregnating materials with prepolymers which can be polymerised in situ, e.g. manufacture of prepregs · CPC title

• C08J5/005

  Reinforced macromolecular compounds with nanosized materials, e.g. nanoparticles, nanofibres, nanotubes, nanowires, nanorods or nanolayered materials · CPC title