Fibers and Nonwovens Made from uncross-linked alkyd oligomers

Preparation of Glycerol-Phthalate Oligomer

[0053]Glycerol (92.09 g, 1 mol) was added to a beaker and the beaker was placed on a plate situated under an overhead stirrer fitted with a 4-blade paddle mixing implement and a Brookfield viscometer. The mixing implement and viscometer was lowered into the glycerol and the sample was stirred with moderate heating. Phthalic anhydride (148.1 g, 1 mol) was slowly added to the stirring / warming glycerol. A thermocouple connected to a thermometer was inserted into the mixture to monitor the temperature, and the temperature of the solution was slowly raised to avoid overheating. The mixture became a clear, colorless solution around 125-130° C., and the temperature of the solution was then adjusted to 190° C. Some bubbling, which occurred quickly but at a moderate rate, was noticeable at this time. The solution continued to be stirred and heated at 190° C. until a desired viscosity was reached, generally 0.5 kg m−1 s−1 to 1 kg m−1 s−1. The solution

Non-Reactive Fiber Production Using Glycerol-Phthalate Oligomer

[0054]The glycerol-phthalate oligomer from Example 1 was warmed to about 200° C. in a heated well of an ITW Dynatec Dynamelt hot melt adhesive supply unit. The now fluid oligomer was then pumped (mass flow 0.3%, 0.8-1.0 rpm) via a Dynatec 8′ heated hose (about 200° C.) to and through a heated melt blown die (about 200° C.) with a 500 μm opening. The alkyd oligomers were blown into fluid molten fibers via pressurized air (100 psi, 260° C.) also passing through the melt blown die. These molten fibers cooled rapidly and vitrified into solid fibers, which were drawn to and collected on a moving vacuum screen affixed to a rotating, oscillating drum for further processing or storage. The sole FIGURE is an image of the uncross-linked alkyd resin fibers taken with a scanning electron microscope. The fibers shown in the image are water-stable and have surprisingly small diameters (e.g., 10 μm to 20 μm) that allow the production of p