ECO FRIENDLY SYNTHETIC FIBRE FROM CORN

R.B.CHAVANDEPARTMENT OF TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY,

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,HAUZ-KHAS, NEW DELHI 110016

RAW MATERIAL

• ANY FERMENTABLE SUGAR

• CORN THE CHEAPEST AND ABUNDANT SOURCE OF SUGAR

• IN FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES MAY DEVELOP TO CONVERT BIOMASS TO SUGAR

MANUFACTURING STEPS

PLA FIBRE ROUTE

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

• FIBRE

• PACKAGING

• CHEMICAL PRODUCTS

  Synthetics

PLA Natural Fiber

Fibers Property Nylon 6 PET Acrylics PLA Rayon

Cotton Silk Wool

Specific gravity 1.14 1.39 1.18 1.25 1.52 1.52 1.34 1.31

Tenacity (g/d) 5.5 6.0 4.0 6.0 2.5 4.0 4.0 1.6

Moisture regain (%) 4.1 0.2-0.4 1.0-2.0 0.4-0.6 11 7.5 10 14-18

Elastic recovery (5% strain) 89 65 50 93 32 52 52 69

Flammability Medium High smoke Medium Low smoke Burns

Burns Burns Burns slowly

UV resistance Poor Fair Excellent Excellent Poor Fair-poor

Fair-poor

Fair

Wicking (L-W slope; higher slope, more wicking)

— 0.7-0.8 (no finish)

— 6.3-7.5 (no finish) 19-26 (with finish)

—   —  

UNIQUE PROPERTIES OF PLA

• superior hand and touch, • drape, • comfort, • moisture management, • ultraviolet (UV) resistance, • and resilience. • Combining these performance features with the features of

natural fibers enables PLA to be used in a wide spectrum of products including

• apparel, • carpet, • nonwoven • fiberfill, and household • industrial markets

PLA PRODUCTS

• PLA apparel, carpets, and nonwovens are already in test market. Consumers' reports indicate that the products actually work well, and they appreciate the products being made from renewable resources. Of course when consumers indicate that they appreciate a product made from renewable resources, they expect that there should be some measurable advantage regarding the environment compared to traditional petroleum-based products.

PLA PACKAGING

• PLA polymers for packaging applications exhibit a balance of performance properties that are comparable and in certain cases superior, to traditional thermoplastics. PLA is useful in coated paper, films, rigid containers, bottles, and a variety of other packaging applications ( Figure 11.4). However, there are two specific packaging areas that have received initial focus—high-value films and rigid thermoformed containers.

Functional Property Packaging Improvement

Deadfold, twist, and crimp Improved folding and sealing

High gloss & clarity Package aesthetics

Barrier properties Grease and oil resistance

Renewable resource Made from CO2

Flavor and aroma Reduced taste and odor issues

Low-temperature heat seal Stronger seals at lower temperatures

High tensile and modulus Wet paper strength, ability to down-gauge

Low COF, polarity Printability

GRAS status Food contact approved

Compostable Compostable, low “green” tax

FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES

NOTE: COF=Coefficient of Friction; GRAS=Generally Recognized As Safe.

 

MARKET DEVELOPMENT

• The market development for packaging is quite different than for fibers. PLA fibers benefit the consumer directly. For example, not only are the products—a shirt, for example—more comfortable (I can detect it myself as a consumer), they are also made starting from a natural product (a perception). So in fibers, the combination of direct consumer benefit and easily communicated perceptions helps to drive the potential of PLA.

• In packaging market segments, consumers' concern for the environment has driven manufacturers to want to adopt new technologies. Led by Europe and Japan where environmental concerns receive a higher priority than in the United States, converters and manufacturers are actively developing packaging products with improved environmental performance.

MARKET DEVELOPMENT

• In contrast to fibers, with packaging market segments consumers will probably not directly detect many of the technical attributes and benefits. Although it is true that PLA can make a better package, consumers don't buy packages. They buy the products in the packages. We find, however, that consumers expect that if technology exists to make a package more “environmentally friendly,” companies should use it—as long as it doesn't increase the price of the product too much. This market insight is critical when investing in technology aimed at environmental attributes. Being environmentally friendly is worthwhile, but only at a certain cost, and it must provide clear benefit.

MARKET POTENTIAL• In the long term, PLA can compete successfully in

several markets with an annual volume of more than 6.6 billion pounds. With technology improvements in manufacturing and processing, these markets could expand to about 10 billion pounds of PLA annually. The market value of annually renewable resource-based thermoplastics from PLA would be at least $6 billion to $10 billion per year.

• In addition, lactic acid can serve as a chemical intermediate. As our scale increases and the costs of the lactic acid manufacturing process are reduced, we expect that lactic acid will be inexpensive enough to enable several other end markets in the chemical industry. This concept is illustrated in Figure 11.5, which shows the wide variety of chemicals other than PLA that could be made from lactic acid. These chemicals add an additional 3 billion to 4 billion pounds and market value of $1 billion to $4 billion per year to the estimated PLA value

Chemicals that could be made from lactic acid