Microporous polypropylene fibers containing fine particles of poly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) or poly(glycidylmethacrylate-co-divinylbenzene)

Styrene-divinylbenzene or glycidylmethacrylate-divinyl-benzene were copolym erized in powdery polypropylene suspended in water and the resultant polyme r composites were blended with a definite amount of polypropylene. The prod ucts consisted of polypropylene and the fine particles of the copolymer, wh ich were uniformly dispersed in polypropylene phase. These products were me lt-spun to prepare polypropylene fibers containing the fine particles and t hen the fibers were stretched to make the fibers microporous. Some properti es were estimated: porosity, 1.6-19.7%; average pore size, 0.004-0.009 mu m ; and specific surface, 9-137 m(2)/g. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.