Afbeelding
Within the world of spun polymer yarns, most available yarns are based on petrochemical polymers, such as polyesters or polyamides (e.g. nylon) within the apparel textile industry, or polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) for industrial/commercial textiles. These yarns have excellent properties, allowing them to be used in a wide range of applications. But they remain non-degradable materials, meaning they remain present in the environment long after their use.
Reason
Yarns used in outdoor applications are released as microplastics when they begin to degrade due to exposure to the weather elements. There are alternative biodegradable polymers that can take their place. One such group of polymers are polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs).
These polymers are made by micro-organisms and are also fully biodegradable in natural environments. They can also be blended with other biodegradable polymers to improve their properties.
What problem does the project solve?
To make a polymer with the necessary properties to be spun, it is necessary to blend PHA with another bio-based plastic. The question is, which PHA(s) (there are several polymers within the family) can best be blended with which other polymer(s). What ratio of PHA to other biopolymer is needed, to obtain the most favourable properties for different applications?
Once such a blend is developed, it needs to be spun into a yarn and this yarn needs to be made into non-wovens for use in products such as hygiene wipes. For each of these processes, the required material and appropriate conditions need to be investigated.
In this project, the aim is to determine which PHA(s), with which other biodegradable polymers, are most suitable for making spun yarns. The yarns that are being developed are, among others, for application in the production of non-woven fleece liners for roofing leather and/or in the production of non-woven material for hygiene wipes.
In addition, the yarns must maintain their biodegradability in natural environments. The mentioned products have a significant chance of entering the environment via wipes, which despite our efforts end up in landfills after use, or in sewers.
Project team
NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences
Hanze
Essity
How is the project team tackling this?
The project consists of 3 phases:
Blends and characterisation
In this phase, the focus is on determining which PHA blends are suitable for making spun yarns and identifying one blendSpinning and characterisation
Here the focus is on developing yarns using the PHA blend identified and produced in phase 1.Product development
In the continuation of this project non-woven producers working with Essity will be directly involved in developing the non-wovens needed for Essity's hygiene products. They will begin development of a new range of hygiene wipes based on the PHA blend yarns produced during the remainder of the project. Essity will also be involved in testing these non-woven samples here to confirm that they meet the requirements for their hygiene products.
