Tyvek

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Tyvek

Product type	Flashspun nonwoven HDPE fiber
Owner	DuPont
Country	United States
Introduced	April 1967; 57 years ago (1967-04)
Related brands	YUPO synthetic paper
Markets	Construction, Packaging and labeling
Tagline	What do you need to protect?
Website	dupont.com/Tyvek

Tyvek (

Tyvek is a nonwoven product consisting of spun bond olefin fiber. It was first discovered in 1955 by a researcher for the DuPont textile company working in an experimental lab, who noticed a type of white fluff coming out of a pipe.^[2] That fluff was a form of polyethylene, which DuPont requested a patent for within a year of the discovery. After technologies improved during the next few years, in 1959 DuPont discovered that when the fluff was spun at high speeds it produced a durable fabric that could be cut with a blade. While the product Tyvek was used since 1959, DuPont did not trademark the actual brand until 1965, making it available for commercial purposes in April 1967.^[3] By 1970, Tyvek had reached the mainstream construction industry on both a national and global scale. Its products were often used for the construction of houses due to its ability to keep out liquid, while allowing vapor through.^[4] In 1972, DuPont released Tyvek packaging for sterile instruments that were to be used by surgeons and doctors in the medical field.^[5]

21st century

In 2017, the DuPont company merged with another chemical company,

Adhesion and bonding

To bond Tyvek to both itself and a variety of substrates, DuPont recommends starch, dextrin, casein, and animal-based adhesives over most synthetic-based adhesives, emphasizing the effectiveness of water-based and quick-drying glues. DuPont also claims that the following adhesives are highly effective:

• Ethylene/vinyl acetate
• Acrylic pressure-sensitive tape
• Solvent-based single-component polyurethane
• Hot glue

As plastic bag recycling has become more prevalent in the United States, the American Chemistry Council has recommended that plastic film drop-off recycling locations should be able to accept Tyvek.^[9]

Properties of Tyvek

According to DuPont's website, Tyvek fibers are 0.5–10 μm (2.0×10⁻⁵–0.000394 in) (compared to 75 μm (0.0030 in) for a human hair). The nondirectional fibers (plexifilaments) are first spun and then bonded by heat and pressure, without binders.^[10]

Tyvek is also:

• Lightweight
• Has a Class 1
  flammability
  rating
• Chemical-resistant
• Dimensionally stabilized
• Opaque
• Has a neutral pH
• Tear-resistant

Uses

Construction/engineering

• Large sheets of Tyvek are frequently used as housewrap to provide an air barrier between the outer cladding of a structure and the frame, insulation, etc., allowing water vapor to pass but restricting air infiltration.^[11]
• Tyvek was used to cover and protect the
  Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster ports from water and debris, while the shuttle stack was exposed on the launchpad during the latter years of the Space Shuttle program.^[12] The Tyvek covers were dislodged shortly after ignition and before the shuttle cleared the tower, posing no strike risk as the shuttle was travelling below 100 mph (160 km/h).^[13]
• Tom Sachs used Tyvek for the outer shell of the spacesuits used in his Space Program series of artworks.^[14]

• Tyvek is used by the United States Postal Service for some of its Priority Mail and Express Mail envelopes.^[15]
• FedEx also uses it for some of its document envelopes.

Government use

• New Zealand used Tyvek for its
  driver's licences from 1986 to 1999.^[16]

• Costa Rica (solely their 20 colones bank note, Z series),^[17] the Isle of Man,^[18] and Haiti^[19] have made banknotes from Tyvek. These banknotes are no longer in circulation and have become collectors' items.

Fashion/personal use

• Race bibs, or race numbers are often produced on Tyvek paper, so they are less likely to rip during competition.^[20]
• Tyvek is often used in garment and other textile labeling due to high durability and washability.
• Tyvek wristbands are used at festivals, conventions, and events where admission and security are concerns, as well as hospitals, resorts, nightclubs, schools, and reunions.
• In 2011, fashion retailer and manufacturer American Apparel included white Tyvek shorts as part of its range.^[21]
• In 1976, fashion house Fiorucci made an entire collection out of Tyvek.^[22]
• The
  better source needed] In 2012, The Open Company released a foldable city map made of one of the stiffer variants of Tyvek.^[24]
• Increasingly, reused Tyvek material is being used by home crafters. Protective sleeves for
  CDs and DVDs, tote bags,^[25] and origami wallets^[26]
  also use Tyvek-containing materials.
• Tyvek is also used as a durable fabric in shoes.[27]^[28]

Medical

• Tyvek is extensively used for laboratory and medical packaging as the material withstands conditions such as gamma irradiation or ethylene oxide gas which are used to sterilize equipment and surgical devices.^[29][30]
• NSW Police, Australia uses Tyvek overalls to preserve the integrity of forensic evidence at a crime scene, while also protecting "the wearer from the risk of exposure to biological substances, dirt and liquid splashes."^[31]

• Tyvek
  Fukushima nuclear incident.^[32]
• Tyvek coveralls, coats or bodysuits are often used during pandemics, for example in the 2013–2016 Western African Ebola virus epidemic, and in the COVID-19 pandemic, to protect health care workers from infection.^[33][34] The Tyvek suits which are most frequently used during the COVID-19 pandemic are sold between $5-$15 USD per piece.^[35] Due to a lack of sufficient stock of adequate PPE during the coronavirus crisis, Tyvek PPE became scarce in many places.^[36][37] Tyvek bodysuits are generally meant for one-time use. However, Tychem suits contaminated with the virus SARS-CoV-2 can be disinfected and reused a limited number of times.^[38]

See also

• Olefin fiber (for brand names of related fabrics)
• High-density polyethylene for material
• Flashspinning
  for manufacturing process

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tyvek.

• Tyvek Product Handbook
• Tyvek at DuPont
• DuPont Tyvek WB FAQ
• Tyvek – Because It Makes the Difference