Fiber for artificial hair with antibacterial and antifungal properties and methods of preparing the same

Abstract

Disclosed are fibers for the manufacture of artificial hair with a core/sheath structure which include antibacterial and antifungal nanoparticles in the sheath structure, thus providing antibacterial and antifungal properties which can last for a considerable period of time. The sheath structure of the fibers is formed to take about 20 to about 30% of the diameter of the fibers so that the fibers can retain desirable antibacterial and antifungal effects, thereby resolving problems of truncation of the fibers due to an increase of pressure in a spinning machine during a spinning process.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fiber for artificial hair comprising:
 a core structure spun from at least one resin selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile, and   a sheath structure formed of a composition to encompass the surface of the core structure,   wherein the composition comprises at least one resin selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile, and 0.05 to 5.0 parts by weight of nanoparticles, the surface of which is protected by sulfur compounds, with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resin.   
     
     
         2 . The fiber for artificial hair of  claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles are manufactured in the presence of sulfur compounds by reducing metal compounds. 
     
     
         3 . The fiber for artificial hair of  claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles are in a form of reductive precipitation on a matrix of at least one resin selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile. 
     
     
         4 . The fiber for artificial hair of  claim 1 , wherein the sheath structure is formed in a range of about 10% to about 60% of a diameter of the fiber. 
     
     
         5 . A method of manufacturing fibers for artificial hair, comprising:
 adding at least one resin selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyester, polyvinyl chloride, polyamide and polyacrylonitrile as a core component, and 0.05 to 5.0 parts by weight of nanoparticles with respect to 100 parts by weight of the resin of the core component or other kind of resin as a sheath component into a composite spinning machine; and   melt-spinning at 200 to 290° C. and cooling the resultant composition.