The history of man-made fibres began at the end of the 19th century with the first semi-synthetic or regenerated materials (van Oosten 2002) and although completely synthetic polymers were developed in the early 20th century, many fibres that are now in common use were not fully exploited until the 1960s and 1970s. Isotactic polypropylene was successful from the early 1960s due to the new catalysts for polymerisation developed by Ziegler and Natta in 1954 (Brydson 1999). It became an important plastic being used in many different forms and applications through a range of manufacturing processes. A large proportion of PP is used in fibres as constituents of fabrics, upholstery and carpets. Many industrial uses involve ropes, woven and non-woven fabrics and reinforcements.
Since the 1980s the production, consumption and applications of this polymer have increased through the application of even more efficient catalysts and property enhancements and today PP is the most common fibre used all over the world. The usefulness of PP depends on the retention of its properties during a prolonged service life. For instance, under mild conditions, unstabilised PP will retain its properties for long periods of time. However in most applications, exposure to heat and light will occur which accelerates oxidative degradation. The properties that make PP widely used as a fibre do not prevent the fibre from deteriorating over time when exposed to daylight and UV radiation (Lemaire et al. 1988).
More information:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene
References
- Brydson, J.A. (1999) Plastics Materials, 6th edn. London: Butterworth Heinemann.
- van Oosten, T.B (2002) ‘A survey of problems with early plastics’, in Contributions to Conservation, Research in Conservation at the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage, J. Mosk and N.Tennant (eds). London: James and James.