A method for the production of polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns of high strength and elongation, particularly of polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns, which have not been drawn and have capillary titers of 1 to 10 dtex and tensile elongations in excess of 130% at tensile strengths of at least 15 cN/tex, and the textile fabrics produced therefrom, by processing polypropylene mixtures in known melt spinning equipment, comprising a plasticizing extruder, an extrusion pump, a melt distributor, spinnerets, a blast shaft and downstream equipment with the process steps of
- melting at mass temperatures of 185° to 310° C.,
- transferring the melt to the spinnerets by means of a melt pump,
- extrusion in the blast shaft,
- drawing off as filaments and further processing in downstream equipment,
- characterized in that
- either polypropylene mixtures are used which, on the one hand, are prepared from
- A) 0.05% to 10% by weight and preferably 0.2% to 3% by weight of modified propylene polymers with melt indexes of 0.1 to 50 g/10 min at 230° C./2.16 kg and preferably of 1 to 40 g/10 min at 230° C./2.16 kg and a ratio of the intrinsic viscosity of the modified polypropylene to the intrinsic viscosity of the unmodified polypropylene of largely the same weight average molecular weight of 0.20 to 0.95, which
- a) were prepared by the treatment of propylene homopolymers and/or copolymers of propylene and ethylene or α-olefins of 4 to 18 carbon atoms, as well as by the treatment of mixtures of said polypropylenes with multifunctional, ethylenically unsaturated monomers in the presence of ionizing radiation or thermally decomposing free radical-forming agents or
- b) by the reaction of functionalized polypropylenes, preferably of polypropylenes containing acid groups and/or acid anhydride groups, with multifunctional compounds of opposite reactivity, preferably with C2 to C16 diamines and/or C2 to C16 diols or
- c) by hydrolytic condensation of polypropylenes, which contain hydrolyzable silane groups,
- and, on the other, consist of
- B) 99.95% to 90% by weight and preferably 99.8% to 97% by weight of unmodified propylene polymers, the unmodified propylene polymers consisting of
- 1) conventional propylene polymers, preferably propylene homopolymers synthesized using Ziegler-Natta catalysts or metallocene catalysts, and/or copolymers of propylene, ethylene and/or α-olefins with 4 to 18 carbon atoms with a propylene content of 80.0% to 99.9% by weight in the form of random copolymers, block copolymers and/or random block copolymers with melt indexes of 0.1 to 300 g/10 min at 230° C./2.16 kg and preferably of 1 to 100 g/10 min at 230° C./2.16 kg, which may be contained in the polypropylene mixtures for producing the polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns and the textile fabrics produced therefrom in amounts up to 99% by weight and preferably of 99% to 50% by weight, and/or
- 2) a polyolefin mixture with an Mw/Mn ratio of 2 to 6 and a melt index of 1 to 40 g/10 min at 230° C./2.16 kg, which consists of
- 2.1) 60% to 98% by weight of a crystalline copolymer of 85% to 99.5% by weight of propylene and 15% to 0.5% by weight of ethylene and/or an α-olefin of the general formula CH2═CHR, wherein R is a linear or branched alkyl group with 2 to 8 carbon atoms,
- 2.2) 2% to 40% by weight of an elastic copolymer of 20% to 70% by weight of ethylene and 80% to 30% by weight of propylene and/or an α-olefin of the general formula CH2═CHR, wherein R is a linear or branched alkyl group with 2 to 8 carbon atoms,
- whereby the polyolefin mixture may be contained in the polypropylene mixtures for producing polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns and the textile fabrics produced therefrom in amounts up to 99% by weight and preferably of 10% to 80% by weight, and/or
- 3) largely amorphous polypropylenes or propylene copolymers with a crystalline portion in the polypropylene or crystalline propylene copolymer of less than 10% by weight, and a heat of fusion of less than 40 J/g and a melt index of 0.1 to 100 g/10 min at 230° C./2.16 kg, the largely amorphous polypropylene being a homopolymer of propylene and/or a copolymer of propylene of at least 80 mole percent propylene and not more than 20 mole percent of one or more α-olefins of the general formula CH2═CHR, wherein R is a linear or branched alkyl group with 2 to 8 carbon atoms, which may be contained in the polypropylene mixtures for producing polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns and textile fabrics produced therefrom in amounts of 50% by weight, and/or
- 4) nonisotactic propylene homopolymers with a melting point of 145° to 165° C., a melt viscosity in excess of 200,000 cps at 190° C., a heat of crystallization of 4 to 10 cal/g and a 35% to 55% by weight portion soluble in diethyl ether, which may be contained in the polypropylene mixtures for producing polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns and textile fabrics produced therefrom in amounts up to 50% by weight,
- or polypropylene mixtures are used, which consist only of unmodified propylene polymers B), the components 3) and/or 4) being contained in amounts of 5% to 50% by weight and the remaining components being contained in amounts of 95% to 50% by weight in the polypropylene mixtures for the production of polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns and the textile fabrics produced therefrom,
- and, furthermore, 0.01% to 5% by weight of adjuvants, based on the polyolefins, optionally being added to the polypropylene mixtures for the production of polyolefin fibers and polyolefin yarns and the textile fabrics produced therefrom.