Polylactic acid fiber is a bit hot this year

Polylactic acid fiber is really a bit hot
this year.

At the 2022/2023 China Fiber Trend Release, "Lemon Tree" hollow polylactic acid fiber and "Green Fiber" soft anti-aging two-component composite polylactic acid fiber were officially released, which were widely used by downstream brands; The project of "Key Technology and Industrialization of Differentiated Functional Polylactic Acid Fiber" undertaken by Jiangsu Fuzhidao Meian Textile Technology Co.
, Ltd.
passed the appraisal of China National Textile and Apparel Council; Anhui Tongguang Bangfei Biotechnology Co.
, Ltd.
became the first polylactic acid fiber enterprise to obtain the "green fiber" certification.
.
.

Polylactic acid is a relatively mature bio-based material in the current industrialization, which is a biopolymer material
made of renewable plant resources such as corn and cassava or crop straw, using modern biological fermentation technology to make high-gloss pure, high-chemical pure lactic acid, and then dehydration to make high-gloss pure lactide, and then ring opening polymerization.
At present, under the guidance of the new development concept and the "double carbon" goal, polylactic acid fiber, as an industrialized mature and widely used bio-based degradable material, has achieved rapid development
in the textile downstream market.

Polylactic acid fiber is widely used

"Polylactic acid degradable trench coat", "Polylactic acid environmental protection sweatpants", "Polylactic acid antibacterial bedding four-piece set".
.
.
Browse on shopping websites, we will find that many textile and apparel brands have launched polylactic acid series products
.

Based on the friendly performance of polylactic acid fiber to human skin, as well as the functions of moisture conduction and fast drying, light warmth, fluffy and soft brought by special special-section fiber, it is widely used in sports and leisure clothing, school uniforms, underwear and underwear, home, baby clothing, gloves and socks, warm clothing and a series of clothing textiles
.
At the same time, the natural antibacterial, anti-mildew, flame retardant properties of polylactic acid fiber are also suitable for decorative textiles, including carpets, sofa covers, curtains, towels, bath towels, bed sheets, quilt covers, quilt surfaces, pillows, quilt cores, hotel linen, outdoor carpets, tents, storm jackets, etc
.

In 2019, Joyful Home Textile Co.
, Ltd.
listed the development of polylactic acid fiber series products as a key strategy, and after several years of research and development, developed a series of products
.
"In the context of 'dual carbon', the development of green products is the general trend
.
Joyful Home Textiles has been adjusting the industrial structure and laying out new green fibers
.
The characteristics of polylactic acid fiber degradable, antibacterial and anti-mite, flame retardant and less smoke, and anti-ultraviolet rays well meet the strategic requirements
of the company's new fiber development.
Wen Hongjie, director of the textile design department of Joyful Home Textiles, introduced that in the future, the company will focus on the development of polylactic acid home textile series, clothing series, kitchen and bathroom series, family hygiene products and infant and child products series, medical supplies and military-civilian integration series products according to market demand and company characteristics
.

In addition to clothing textiles, polylactic acid fiber is also widely used in industrial textiles, which can be used in face masks, cotton soft towels, dry/wet wipes, baby diapers and girls' hygiene products, and also suitable for medical and health fields, such as masks, protective clothing, protective caps, protective foot covers, disposable medical mattresses, disposable hygiene products and air filters
.

Modification studies improve overall performance

Although polylactic acid fiber has excellent properties, it also has shortcomings
such as poor dyeability, poor toughness and poor heat resistance.
Therefore, some scientific research institutes and enterprises are improving the comprehensive performance of
polylactic acid fiber through modification.

Wang Bin, associate professor of the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, introduced that in order to improve the added value of polylactic acid fiber, the technical team of Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology studied heat-resistant stereoscopic composite fiber, three-dimensional curly fiber, antibacterial and anti-ultraviolet fiber, waterproof and moisture-permeable fiber membrane and high-efficiency and low-resistance polylactic acid meltblown cloth with antibacterial protection performance, and developed different styles of polylactic acid fabrics and textiles
on this basis.

Jiangsu Fuzhidao Meian Textile Technology Co.
, Ltd.
innovatively developed differentiated functional polylactic acid fiber through composite modification, which increased the melting point of polylactic acid fiber by nearly 50 °C, conquered the key technology of original solution coloring, solved the problem of dyeing, and developed the color fastness to soaping, washing and rubbing color fastness of colored polylactic acid fiber ≥ 4 grades, which is obviously better than the traditional dyeing process
.

Localization of raw materials is driving market growth

In fact, polylactic acid fiber is not a new variety, it has been produced for more than half a century
.

Cyanamid Company of the United States developed polylactic acid absorbable sutures in the 60s of last century; In 1989, Zhongbo Japan and Shimadzu Manufacturing Co.
, Ltd.
jointly developed pure spun polylactic acid fiber and its blended varieties with natural fibers, which were exhibited at the 1998 Nagano Winter Games; Japan Unijika Company developed polylactic acid filament and spunbond nonwovens in 2000; In 2003, CDP released a series of products covering polylactic acid resin, fiber and film, and licensed the German company Trevira to produce nonwovens for automobiles, home textiles, hygiene and other fields
.

There are also many enterprises in China that have carried out the related research and development and industrialization of polylactic acid fiber, such as Maanshan Tongjieliang Biomaterials Company, Hengtian Changjiang Biomaterials Co.
, Ltd.
, Anhui Fengyuan Group, Shanghai Deflun Chemical Fiber Co.
, Ltd.
, etc
.

Among them, Anhui Fengyuan Group is committed to the development of bio-based new materials industry, has opened up lactic acid fermentation-lactide preparation-polylactic acid-spinning production national production technology, and mastered the whole industrial chain technology
of straw as raw material to produce mixed sugars and then to bio-based materials.

Fan Yaqing, general manager of Anhui Fengyuan Biofiber Co.
, Ltd.
, introduced that in order to open up all aspects of polylactic acid in the textile field and expand the application scope of polylactic acid materials in the textile field, Anhui Fengyuan has built a demonstration line with an annual output of 5,000 tons of polylactic acid fiber, a test line for the production of polylactic acid filament with an annual output of 1,000 tons, a tow demonstration line with an annual output of 200 tons of polylactic acid cigarettes, etc.
, and has successively cooperated with Sunshine Group, Xtep Company, Joy Home Textile and other companies to develop polylactic acid knitted and woven fabrics.
and terminal polylactic acid products
such as Eisai.

At present, driven by the global trend of plastic bans and restrictions, polylactic acid has received more attention, and China's polylactic acid production capacity will reach 425,000 tons in 2021
.
At present, domestic enterprises are building 580,000 tons of polylactic acid projects, and more than 1 million tons
of planned projects.
In the future, the localization of polylactic acid raw materials is expected to drive the rapid growth
of the polylactic acid fiber market.