Toray Develops Vegetable-Based Material for High-Performance Films

Toray Industries, Inc., a leading Japanese manufacturer of fibers, plastics and chemicals, announced on February 10, 2006, that it has developed a vegetable-based material with improved heat resistance and moldability. This material, the first of its kind in the world, was created based on the company's precision polymerization and nanostructure control technologies.

Vegetable-oil-based materials, by nature, are largely incompatible with polyesters and are vulnerable to heat. Toray, however, has overcome these problems by using its advanced precision polymerization technology, and succeeded in creating a new polyester that contains large amounts of plant-derived components. The company has also established a new technology to control polymer structures at the nano level by melting and kneading the newly developed polyester with other kinds of polyester. This technology has enabled vegetable-based plastic films to have greater flexibility and moldability as well as transparency and thermal resistance equivalent to those of ordinary plastic films.

Polymers containing plant-derived ingredients are biodegradable, but their heat resistance and durability are typically far below those of petroleum-based polymers. In addition, the inclusion of larger amounts of plant-derived components often caused material degradation and poor coloration. With conventional technologies, it was thus impossible to produce high-quality, plant-based film materials.

Toray's new material, with its improved properties, is expected to be used in the manufacture of high-performance films for industrial applications, particularly in the construction, home electronics and automobile industries. Its use will also have a significantly reduced environmental impact.

http://www.toray.com/index.html

Posted: 2006/05/12 12:26:42 PM
Japanese version