Fibers have been an important part of human life for thousands of years. Most of what we wear is made of either natural fibers such as cotton or wool, or synthetic fibers like polyester or nylon. Synthetic fibers like polyester are made in a melt spinning process. This process gives the filaments the rod-like structure seen in Figure 1.
In the 1970s, Crown Zellerbach sought to produce a synthetic wood pulp from high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Currently, this fiber is manufactured in this manner by Mitsui Chemical.1 This process is described in Figure 2.