Change of Fine Structure of Aliphatic Polyester fiber by strectching

Hot stretching focused on the improvement of properties of poly(L-lactic acid) fiber. Some aliphatic polyesters are biodegradable under microbial attack and the new unique applications are expected. Generally, these materials have a somewhat low melting temperature and low mechanical properties compared with the aromatic polyesters. In this study, melt-spinning of poly(L-lactic acid) was conducted. We investigated effects of the stretching and the molecular orientation of aliphatic polyester fibers on the change of fine-structure. Glass transition temperature, molecular orientation and crystallinity increased according to the increase of stretching ratio.