Cellulose acetate fibers in nonwoven fabrics

A process for producing cellulose acetate staple fibers, the process comprising:

• (a) spinning a cellulose acetate dope to form a cellulose acetate filament yarn comprising a plurality of individual cellulose acetate filaments;
• (b) applying at least one spin finish on at least a portion of the cellulose acetate filament yarn to form a coated cellulose acetate filament yarn;
• (c) crimping at least a portion of the coated cellulose acetate filament yarn to form a crimped filament yarn;
• and
• (d) cutting the crimped filament yarn to thereby form the cellulose acetate staple fibers,
• wherein the cellulose acetate staple fibers exhibit:
• (i) a fiber-to-fiber staple pad coefficient of friction in the range of 0.1 to 0.5,
• (ii) a fiber-to-metal staple pad coefficient of friction of less than 0.4, and
• (iii) a surface resistivity of less than 11, as expressed as log R;
• and wherein the cellulose acetate staple fibers comprise cellulose acetate having a degree of substitution of no greater than 2.5.

A staple fiber formed from cellulose acetate and at least partially coated with at least one ionic fiber finish, wherein said fiber has a surface resistivity, expressed as log R, of not more than about 11 measured according to AATCC TM76-2011,

• wherein said fiber has a denier per filament in the range of from about 0.5 to about 3, a crimp frequency in the range of from about 10 to about 17 crimps per inch (CPI) measured according to ASTM D3937, a length in the range of from about 3 to about 75 mm, and a Y-shaped or round cross-sectional shape, and
• wherein said fiber is not coated with a spinning finish and is coated with at least one top-coat finish in an amount of not more than about 0.4% FOY measured by solvent extraction according to ASTM D2257, wherein said top-coat finish comprises said ionic fiber finish, and
• wherein said fiber has a static half-life of not more than about 25 seconds and
• wherein a plurality of said fibers exhibit a fiber-to-fiber staple pad coefficient of friction of at least about 0.1 measured according to ASTM D3412.