Nanofront ultra-fine polyester from recycled materials is the innovation of Teijin Frontier, Japan. These are the World’s first highly absorbent nanostructures made from recycled polyesters. The created capillarity inside the structure enhances water absorption and diffusion. Its grip properties result from nano-sized irregularities on the fiber surface, which creates friction. In filter materials, its fine pores and high void structure also improve its functionalities.
Key to the development is new polymer-control and spinning techniques for its proprietary ‘sea-island composite-fiber processing technology”. The technology distributes two types of polymers into the fiber’s sea and island parts. It then dissolves and removes the sea part using an alkaline treatment, finally extracting only the island part as raw yarn.
Teijin Frontier believes this technology will enable it to produce all of its polyester fiber products with recycled raw materials in the future, including sportswear, functional clothing, industrial uniforms and more. It forecasts sales from the development of 300 million yen in 2021 and 800 million yen in 2025.
The demand for recycling raw materials is rapidly increasing. Still, it has been challenging to mass-produce ultra-fine fibers from recycled polyester due to the need for high-level polymer control and spinning.
Teijin Limited is a Japanese chemical, pharmaceutical and information technology company. Its primary operations are high-performance fibers such as aramid, carbon fibers & composites, healthcare, films, resin & plastic processing, polyester fibers, products converting and IT products. The company is listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 stock index.
