Both spunbond and meltblown are process technologies for manufacturing non-woven fabrics using polymers as raw materials, and their main differences lie in the state and processing methods of the polymers.
The principle of spunbond and meltblown
Spunbond refers to a non-woven fabric made by extruding polymer materials in a molten state, spraying the molten material onto a rotor or nozzle, stretching and rapidly solidifying in the molten state to form fibrous materials, and then interweaving and interlocking the fibers through mesh belts or electrostatic spinning. The principle is to extrude the melted polymer through an extruder, and then go through multiple processes such as cooling, stretching, and directional stretching to finally form a non-woven fabric.
Meltblown is a process of spraying polymer materials from a molten state through high-speed nozzles. Due to the impact and cooling of high-speed airflow, the polymer materials quickly solidify into filaments and disperse in the air. Then, through natural landing or wet processing, a fine fiber mesh non-woven fabric is finally formed. The principle is to spray high-temperature molten polymer materials, stretch them into fine fibers through high-speed airflow, and rapidly solidify them into mature products in the air, forming a layer of fine non-woven fabric material.
The difference between melt blown non-woven fabric and spunbond non-woven fabric
Different manufacturing methods
Melt blown non-woven fabric is manufactured through melt spraying technology, where polymer materials are melted and sprayed onto a template, while spunbond non-woven fabric is processed into non-woven fabric by melting chemical fibers into solid fibers through solvent action or high temperature, and then processed into non-woven fabric through mechanical processing or chemical reactions.
Different process technologies
(1) The requirements for raw materials are different. Spunbond requires an MFI of 20-40g/min for PP, while melt blown requires 400-1200g/min.
(2) The spinning temperature is different. Melt blown spinning is 50-80 ℃ higher than spunbond spinning.
(3) The stretching speed of fibers varies. Spunbond 6000m/min, melt blown 30km/min.
(4) Fortunately, the distance is not smooth. Spunbond 2-4m, melt blown 10-30cm.
(5) Cooling and stretching conditions are different. Spunbond fibers are drawn using 16 ℃ cold air with positive/negative pressure, while fuses are blown using a hot seat with a temperature close to 200 ℃.
Differences in physical properties
Spunbond fabrics have much higher breaking strength and elongation than meltblown fabrics, resulting in lower costs. But the hand feel and fiber mesh uniformity are poor.
Meltblown fabric is fluffy and soft, with high filtration efficiency, low resistance, and good barrier performance. But low strength and poor wear resistance.
Comparison of process characteristics
One of the characteristics of melt blown nonwoven fabrics is that the fiber fineness is relatively small, usually less than 10um (micrometers), with most fibers having a fineness between 1-4um. The various forces on the entire spinning line from the nozzle of the meltblown die to the receiving device cannot maintain balance (such as the stretching force fluctuations of high-temperature and high-speed airflow, the speed and temperature of cooling air, etc.), resulting in varying fineness of meltblown fibers.
The uniformity of fiber diameter in spunbond nonwoven fabric web is significantly better than that of meltblown fibers, because in the spunbond process, the spinning process conditions are steady-state, and the stretching and cooling conditions fluctuate more
Comparison of Crystallization and Orientation Degree
The crystallinity and orientation of melt blown fibers are smaller than those of spunbond fibers. Therefore, the strength of melt blown fibers is poor, and the strength of the fiber web is also poor. Due to the poor fiber strength of melt blown nonwoven fabrics, the actual application of melt blown nonwoven fabrics mainly relies on the characteristics of their ultrafine fibers.
Comparison between melt spun fibers and spunbond fibers
A、 Fiber length – spunbond is a long fiber, meltblown is a short fiber
B、 Fiber strength – spunbond fiber strength>meltblown fiber strength
Fiber fineness – Meltblown fibers are finer than spunbond fibers
Different application scenarios
The application fields of spunbond and meltblown are also different. Usually, spunbond fabrics are mainly used for sanitary and industrial products, such as sanitary napkins, masks, filter cloth, etc. Meltblown fabrics are mainly used in medical supplies, masks and other fields. Due to their slender and dense structure, meltblown fabrics have better filtration effects and can better filter fine particles and virus particles.
Cost comparison between spunbond and meltblown
There is a significant difference in production costs between spunbond and meltblown. The production cost of spunbond is relatively high because it requires more energy and equipment costs. At the same time, due to the thicker fibers, the fabrics produced by spunbond have a harder hand feel and are more difficult to be accepted by the market.
On the contrary, the production cost of meltblown is relatively low because it can reduce costs through large-scale production and automation. At the same time, due to the finer fibers, meltblown fabrics have a softer and better tactile feel, which can better meet market demand.
【 Conclusion 】
Meltblown nonwoven fabric and spunbond nonwoven fabric are two different types of nonwoven materials with different manufacturing processes and characteristics. In terms of application and selection, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the actual needs and usage scenarios, and choose the most suitable non-woven fabric material.
Dongguan Liansheng Non woven Technology Co., Ltd. was established in May 2020. It is a large-scale non-woven fabric production enterprise integrating research and development, production, and sales. It can produce various colors of PP spunbond non-woven fabrics with a width of less than 3.2 meters from 9 grams to 300 grams.
Post time: Sep-07-2024