12 APRIL 2021, TOKYO — Teijin Frontier Co. Ltd., a Teijin Group fibres and goods conversion company, reported today that it has developed technology to mass produce a new version of its Nanofront ultra-fine polyester, which it claims is the world’s first nanofiber manufactured from recycled polyester raw materials.
Teijin Frontier expects this latest version of Nanofront made from recycled polyester materials to replace traditional Nanofront made from petroleum-derived raw materials in a variety of fields, including sportswear, practical garments, industrial uniforms, and more.
Sales of recycled-polyester Nanofront are expected to exceed 300 million yen ($2.75 million) in fiscal 2021 and 800 million yen ($7.3 million) in fiscal 2025, according to the company.
Nanofront made from recycled polyester performs in the same way as Nanofront made from petroleum-derived raw materials does:
Nanofront has seen increased demand in a variety of fields in recent years, owing to increased demand for materials with high functionality, such as absorbency and grip, as well as excellent comfort, such as soft texture and low skin irritation.Teijin Frontier has developed new polymer control and spinning techniques for Nanofront, which is made from recycled polyester materials.
The company’s patented “sea-island” composite-fiber processing technology, which distributes two types of polymers into the fiber’s “sea” and “island” sections, then dissolves and removes the “sea” component using an alkaline, etc. solution, and finally extracts only the “island” part as raw yarn, was the secret.
