MASSACHUSETTS – In what could prove to be a major breakthrough in fibre technology, researchers at MIT have developed a process for turning inexpensive polyethylene into ultrafine fibres with performance properties on par with Kevlar or carbon fibres.
The new process, combining gel spinning with electrical forces, is described in a paper by MIT professor of chemical engineering Gregory Rutledge and postdoc Jay Park that will be published in the February edition of the Journal of Materials Science.
