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The Smaller, The Better



small fibers mean big business for nonwovens in filtration, medical, apparel, home furnishing & industrial uses



By Ellen Wuagneux
Associate Editor




Click here to read the full article.
Just how small is a microfiber? This depends on how you define it, but according to most industry experts, a microfiber is smaller than most fibers used for nonwovens but not nearly as small as a nanofiber. Conventional nonwovens have fibers with diameters ranging from one to 100 microns. Nanofibers produced by various processes will have diameters in the range of several nanometers up to 1000 nanometers. A micron, or micrometer, equals 1000 nanometers.

Various process technologies are used to produce microfiber nonwovens for applications requiring barrier properties and high surface areas, including specialty meltblowing, electrospinning, electroblowing and splittable fiber approaches. While microfibers are well established in meltblown and wetlaid microglass technologies, the next frontier is expected to involve fibers with even smaller diameters—or nanofibers.