The invention relates to a method for the preparation of a polyamide 6 copolymer. It relates to a polyamide 6 copolymer thus obtained, to the use thereof for the production of filaments or fibers of polyamide 6, and to filaments and filament yarns of polyamide 6 thus obtained. The invention relates to the production process of recyclable flame retardant (FR) polyamide 6 fibers with the incorporated ?-caprolactam based flame retardant functionalised comonomers which enables a closed loop recycling. It can be used in the field of polyamide 6 technical textiles and engineering plastics which represent the largest and the fastest-growing segments of the global polyamide market. This achievemnt is of high importance for the industry which produces polyamide 6 textile materials for automobiles, trains and airplanes as well as carpets in public buildings, where materials must fulfill the requirements dictated by the certain flame retardancy standards. This would also significantly contributed to the increase of the protection of protection of life and property. The production of this high added value material can increase the market competitiveness of this chemically recyclable polymer as well as the competitiveness of the European market. The results of the patent are presented in the article "New sustainable flame retardant DOPO-NH-functionalized polyamide 6 and filament yarn", which is currently in the second phase of review in the Chemical Engineering Journal (Impact Factor 10.652).
F.32 International patent
COBISS.SI-ID: 3584624Scientific Research Councils of Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS) selected the scientific achievement 'Development of new sustainable flame retardant polyamide 6 textile fibres' as Excellent in Science 2019. As a high-performance fibre-forming polymer, polyamide 6 (PA6) represents one of the most important raw materials used for the production of technical textile fibres. Additionally, chemical recycling of PA6 waste materials in accordance with the circular economy strategy classifies PA6 as a ’’sustainable polymer’’. However, the flammability of PA6 textiles still represents a major problem because standard technology of melt-compounding of PA6 with flame retardant additives inhibits the continous melt-spinning of textile fibres. The goal of our research was to solve the core of this problem and to develop a new process for the production of spinnable flame retardant PA6, with the respect to the economic, social and environmental sustainable development. Our innovative solution is based on the incorporation of a highly effective flame retardant organo-phosphorus compound into PA6 matrix during the polymerization process. The high stability and uniform distribution of the nanodispersed flame retardant compound in the PA6 matrix enabled the achievement of maximum flame retardant effectiveness at low concentrations with minimal impact on the fibres mechanical properties. Corresponding author: Jelena Vasiljević
E.01 National awards
COBISS.SI-ID: 29836291Commission for research work under the leadership of prof. dr. Matjaž Krajnec chose the research achievement 'Development of the first sustainable non-combustible textile made of polyamide 6' as one of the best research achievements of the University of Ljubljana in 2019. The nanocomposite PA6/PHED is highly important for the production of high-technology technical textiles with high added value and PA6 plastic mass with reduced concentrations of flame-retardant additives. The innovation is also important in terms of sustainable development, since PA6 is one of the rare synthetic polymers that can be recycled through depolymerisation to a monomer. Researchers from the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering (Jelena Vasiljević, Barbara Simončič, Andrej Demšar, Barbara Golja, Mirjam Leskovšek, Vili Bokušek) collaborated with researchers from the Chemistry Institute (Marija Čolović, Ivan Jerman, Matic Šobak) to develop a new production process for the sustainable fibre-forming polyamide 6 (PA6) with an incorporated organophosphorus compound (PHED) and the first self-extuinguishing flame-retardant PA6/PHED textile filaments. PA6 is one of the most important raw materials for the production of high-performance textile fibres, but its use is limited due to its high flammability. Despite the quite successful production of halogen-free flame-retardant plastic products, the development of flame-retardant PA6 textile fibres remains a challenging research task, as can be seen in the fact that they are still not available in the market. The manufacturing process includes incorporating a PHED compound into the polymer matrix during the polymerisation process, the conditions of which are adjusted for industrial production. The high stability of the nanocomposite PA6/PHED and the uniform distribution of nanodistributed PHED in the PA6 matrix enable maximum flame-retardant effects even at low concentrations of the PHED compound, with minimal impact on the physical and mechanical properties of the filament yarn. Authors: Jelena Vasiljević, Barbara Simončič, Andrej Demšar, Barbara Golja, Mirjam Leskovšek, Vili Bokušek
E.01 National awards
COBISS.SI-ID: 3696496Silver Award for Innovation "Sustainable Flame Retardant Polyamide 6 Fibres" - The award was given by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia. Innovation is related to the development of novel synthetic route for the flame retardant functionalized polyamide 6 and production of flame retardant polymeric fibres. With nano-dispersion of more environment-friendly flame retardant functionality, effectiveness of its low concentration was achieved. Chemical recyclability and availability of starting materials for the synthesis from bio-mass cycle placed new polymer into sustainable materials. Innovation solves flammability of the polyamide 6 fibres, currently the main drawback in the field of polyamide 6 fibres. Inovators: dr. Ivan Jerman, dr. Marija Čolović, dr. Jelena Vasijević, dr. Barbara Simončič, dr. Andrej Demšar, dr. Alisa Šehić
E.01 National awards
COBISS.SI-ID: 3618672This research achievement was awarded with the 1. Award for the best poster at the conference Fire retardant polymeric materials: European Meeting, FRPM 2019 In this research, we presented the new approach for the obtaining of FR-PA6 textile filaments where more environment-friendly and more sustainable flame retardant functionality is included into PA6 polymer structure. Authors: Čolović Marija, Vasiljević Jelena, Simončič Barbara, Jerman Ivan, Demšar Andrej
E.02 International awards
COBISS.SI-ID: 6696986