Melt Spinning of Photoluminescent Polypropylene Fibers Using Phosphorescent Pigments

Using phosphorescent pigments for protective clothes, and other guidance tools is considered in recent years. These pigments were being used in dyeing and printing processes in the past. Their most common issues were their high amount of wastewater pollution, insolubility in water, and long process time . Producing photoluminescent synthetic fbers by melt spinning is one method to tackle these issues. In this study, for producing the polypropylenen (PP) photoluminescent fbers, different amounts of phosphorescent pigment were added to PP before melt spinning. The as-spun fbers were then drawn to orient the fbers. Two different mixing methods were employed: (1) direct mixing the PP granules and phosphorescent pigment and (2) producing the phosphorescent pigment masterbaches and then mixing them with PP granules. The fber samples were analyzed with reflectance spectrophotometer to measure their afterglow time and tensile tester to measure their tensile strength and elongation at break. It was observed that the afterglow time and color saturation increased with increasing the amount of phosphorescent pigments in the PP fber matrix. On contrary, the mechanical properties of the fber samples decreased with increasing the amount of phosphorescent pigments.