Insulation development from Teijin Frontier
Performance materials developer Teijin Frontier has introduced a new insulation fibre for apparel. It has called the product Octair.
It uses the company’s short-cut polyester fibre, Octa SF, which features a hollow, eight-fin cross-section with radiating protrusions.
Teijin said Octair would meet “growing demand for alternatives to natural feathers”, which it claimed is experiencing “declining production volumes and rising costs”.
It explained that the hollow structure of the fibres creates air pockets that provide high levels of warmth and loft in a lightweight construction.
An insulation material it has already developed, Solotex, combines Octair and polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT) fibres. Teijin said the combination worked well because the PTT fibres’ helical molecular structure offers softness, elasticity and good shape-retention.
In addition, it said that, because the tips of the PTT fibres are soft, they do not spread out easily, reducing tangling and making the blowing process for filling clothing smoother than with conventional polyester insulation.
