Abstract
In this study, the effects of spinneret diameter and TOCNF (TEMPO-oxidized Cellulose Nanofiber) content on the structural characteristics and mechanical properties of TOCNF filaments fabricated by wet spinning were investigated. In addition,...
Abstract
In this study, the effects of spinneret diameter and TOCNF (TEMPO-oxidized Cellulose Nanofiber) content on the structural characteristics and mechanical properties of TOCNF filaments fabricated by wet spinning were investigated. In addition, a drawing process was applied to evaluate the enhancement of mechanical properties associated with structural changes before and after drawing. The diameter and tensile strength of the wet-spun TOCNF filaments were measured, while surface morphology was observed using scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The crystallinity index and orientation index of the filaments were analyzed using X-ray diffraction(XRD) and two-dimensional wide angle X-ray diffraction(2D‑WAXD). The results showed that, at a constant TOCNF content, decreasing the spinneret diameter led to a reduction in filament diameter and an increase in tensile strength, whereas the crystallinity index exhibited no significant change. This behavior is attributed to enhanced nanofibril orientation induced by increased shear conditions associated with smaller spinneret diameters. When the TOCNF content was varied under a constant spinneret diameter condition, the highest tensile strength was observed at lower TOCNF contents, while the crystallinity index remained within a similar range, indicating that differences in orientation efficiency played a dominant role in the mechanical performance. After applying the drawing process, both the crystallinity index and tensile strength increased for all TOCNF contents compared to the undrawn filaments. Notably, filaments with higher TOCNF contents exhibited more pronounced enhancement of crystal orientation along the fiber axis during drawing, which can be attributed to their higher maximum draw ratios. These findings indicate that the tensile strength improvement of TOCNF filaments arises from the synergistic increase in crystallinity and orientation induced by the drawing process. Through this study, it was confirmed that the enhancement of mechanical properties of TOCNF filaments is related to changes in structural characteristics resulting from wet spinning parameters and the drawing process.