Renewable nylon 66 breakthrough for Toray
Fibre and textile developer Toray has announced what it is calling the world’s first 100% bio-based adipic acid, a raw material for nylon 66. The raw material it has used is sugar derived from inedible biomass.
Toray said it had achieved this breakthrough thanks to a proprietary synthesis technique combining the company’s microbial fermentation and chemical purification technologies.
It now intends to test polymerisation of the nylon 66 it has made using this technique, develop production technology, conduct market research and take steps to commercialise applications. It has said this may take until 2030.
Nylon 66 has been used for many years in fibres, resins, and other applications owing to its exceptionally durable, strong, and rigid properties, the company said, but it acknowledged that the pressure to develop an eco-friendly nylon 66 has risen in recent years.
It explained that a particular challenge manufacturers face is that conventional chemical synthesis for producing adipic acid, the raw material of nylon 66, generates a potent greenhouse gas called dinitrogen monoxide. Its new technique is free of dinitrogen monoxide emissions.
It said the achievement was partly attributable to joint research it has carried out with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and RIKEN, Japan’s largest comprehensive research institution.
