Tuesday, February 14, 2012

No. 436: A trial product of plant-derived nylon fiber (February 14, 2012)

Technology
Ajinomoto and Toray jointly developed a trial product of plant-derived nylon fiber. This is a product developed by Ajinomoto’s fermentation technology and Toray’s technology of chemical synthesis and fiber processing. They used sugarcanes instead of oil for the trial product that has excellent performance of absorbing and letting out perspiration. They are working on the mass production technology to put it into commercial use for underwear in 2013. They are examining the possibility to set up a production and marketing company through joint capital investment.

The new nylon fiber is created by fermenting the plant material added by microorganisms and extracting lysine of amino acid from it. The extracted lysine is processed using enzyme, and the resultant chemical substance is processed into a fibrous form. The trial product has the same degree of strength and stretch as the existing oil-derived products, and two times higher ability to absorb and discharge moisture than the existing products. It does not become stuffy when it is used for underwear. It gives the wearer fresh and cool feeling. The two companies are also developing plant-derived resins to be applicable to auto parts.

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