Patent ID: 8206484

Claim:
A method for fabricating fibers, the method comprising melt-blowing a melt of a molecularly self-assembling material, the melt being at a temperature of from 130 degrees Celsius to 220 degrees Celsius, thereby forming a fiber set having a distribution of fiber diameters wherein at least about 95 percent of the fibers have a diameter of less than about 3 microns, wherein the molecularly self-assembling material comprises repeat units of formula I: and units selected from the group consisting of esteramide units of Formula II and III: and ester-urethane units of Formula IV: or combinations thereof wherein: R at each occurrence is independently a C 2 -C 20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group, a C 2 -C 20 non-aromatic heterohydrocarbylene group, or a polyalkylene oxide group having a group molecular weight of from about 100 to about 5000 g/mol; R 1 at each occurrence is independently a bond, or a C 1 -C 20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group; R 2 at each occurrence is independently a C 1 -C 20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group; R N is —N(R 3 )—Ra-N(R 3 )—, where R 3 is independently H or C 1 -C 6 alkylene, Ra is a C 2 -C 20 non-aromatic hydrocarbylene group, or R N is a C 2 -C 20 heterocycloalkyl group containing the two nitrogen atoms, wherein each nitrogen atom is bonded to a carbonyl group according to Formula III; n is at least 1 and has a mean value less than 2; w represents the ester mole fraction of Formula I, and x, y and z represent the amide or urethane mol fractions of Formulas II, III, and IV; where w+x+y+z=1, and 0<w<1, and at least one of x, y and z is greater than zero but less than 1.