Preparation of a Porous Polyester Fiber by Foaming with Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

In view of creating a porous polyester (poly ethylene terephthalate : PET) fiber through a solid foaming process, we investigated the morphological changes of PET yarns induced by several methods under various supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) conditions. The PET yarn was foamed through the process of adsorptiori/decompression of scCO(2)/methanol (MeOH) mixture. The morphology of the treated fiber was foamed around the center of the fiber but not near the fiber surface. Porous fiber with pores on its surface as well as inside was prepared by removing the surface part without pores from the foamed fiber through the weight loss treatment using alkaline solution. The pores in the fiber were approximately spherical and various sizes, and some of them connected each other.