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AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsMark G. Reichmann, Maya Aroch, Joy Francine Jordan, Peter Michailovich Kobylivker, Rowland Jaynes McClellan JR., Ann Louise McCormack, Palani Raj Ramaswami Wallajapet, Vasily A. Topolkaraev, Dennis Y. Lee, Steven R. Stopper
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The present invention provides a nonwoven web prepared from an aliphatic polyester polymer which has sufficient tear strength and is biodegradable. Biodegradable nonwoven webs of the present are prepared from a polymer blend having from about 65% by weight to about 99% by weight of a biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer and from about 1% by weight to about 35% by weight of a second polymer selected from the group consisting of a polymer having a lower melting point than the biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer, a polymer having a lower molecular weight than the biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer and mixtures thereof. Surprisingly, the nonwoven webs of the present invention have a tear strength greater than the tear strength of a nonwoven web prepared from the biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer alone. In addition, other properties of the resulting nonwoven web, such as the tensile strength and energy to break, are not adversely affected, by the addition of the second polymer, in ways that make the resulting nonwoven web unusable for its intended purpose.
A biodegradable nonwoven web prepared from a polymer blend comprising from about 65% by weight to about 99% by weight of a biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer and from about 1% by weight to about 35% by weight of a second polymer which is amorphous and is selected from the group consisting of a polymer having a lower melting point than the aliphatic polyester polymer, a polymer having a lower molecular weight than the aliphatic polyester polymer and mixtures thereof.
A method of increasing the tear strength of a biodegradable nonwoven web prepared from a biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer, said method comprising forming a blend of a biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer and a polymer selected from the group consisting of a polymer having a lower melting point than the biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer, a polymer having a lower molecular weight than the biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer and mixtures thereof with the biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer;
A fiber from a polymer blend comprising from about 65% by weight to about 99% by weight of a biodegradable aliphatic polyester polymer and from about 1% by weight to about 35% by weight of a second polymer which is amorphous and is selected from the group consisting of a polymer having a lower melting point than the aliphatic polyester polymer, a polymer having a lower molecular weight than the aliphatic polyester polymer and mixtures thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.