Partners present new pathway to biopolyamide
Japanese textile conglomerate Toray Industries has been working with Thai chemicals company PTT Global Chemical (GC) to develop a new manufacturing process for a fully biobased nylon 6.6. The two companies said that they had finalised the technology that uses a byproduct of cassava (also known as manioc or yuca) and does not directly compete with a source of food.
Starch from cassava pulp powers the fermentation of bio-muconic acid, which yields a biobased adipic acid, the main raw material of polyamide 6.6. The two companies have been working in tandem. Toray said that it can produce 5 dry tonnes of glucose sugar daily from 66 tonnes of starch residue. Fermentation, by Global Chemical, has been validated on a pilot scale 50 m3 fermenter. After filtering and purifying stages, the biobased adipic acid was then polymerised by Toray, combined with bio-based hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) to produce a nylon 6.6.
Based on these achievements, Toray intends to build a supply chain and sees a commercial launch for textiles made from the new 100% bio-based nylon 66 in 2028.
