One of the biggest issues for mankind in the 21st century is to protect the environment. Although rubber, plastic and synthetic fiber are closely related to human life, most of them cannot be decomposed naturally, and their waste causes white pollution. Since the 1960s, in order to protect the environment, people begun to research and develop biodegradable polymers and related products. Polylactic acid (PLA), which has just been industrialized in the late 1990s, is one of the most promising ones.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a new bio-based material that is widely used in apparel manufacturing, construction, and healthcare. On the supply side, the global PLA production capacity is nearly 400,000 tons in 2020.
(Global PLA production capacity：million tons)On the demand side, the global polylactic acid market size reached USD 660.8 million in 2019 and based on its promising applications, the market will maintain a CAGR growth of 7.5% during 2021-2026, and the global polylactic acid (PLA) market size will reach USD 1.1 billion by 2026.
(Global PLA market size：USD billion)
PLA Nonwoven Has a Promising Application
Most of the nonwoven fabrics on the market are made of petroleum-based chemical fibers, which are non-degradable and non-renewable raw materials. PLA has the advantages of good biodegradability, bio-compatibility, thermal stability, solvent resistance, and easy processing, etc. In the natural environment, under the action of bacteria and water, it can be completely degraded to carbon dioxide and water, which is harmless to the environment and can completely solve the problem of "white pollution". At the same time, its monomeric raw material lactic acid can be produced on a large scale by fermenting food crops such as corn, so it can completely get rid of the dependence on oil resources and is a non-polluting and renewable resource. Therefore, PLA nonwoven fabrics are more environmentally friendly than other nonwoven fabrics.
PLA has the advantages of high strength and high modulus, which can be processed and produced by extrusion, melt spinning, liquid spinning, blow molding, and other traditional methods. PLA nonwoven fabric has features with softness, strong adsorption, moisturizing, breathable, antibacterial. Furthermore, this type of fabrics are a premium material with features of pure, safe, healthy, and skin-friendly, possessing many biological properties incomparable to other substrates, and is an ideal substrate for high-quality facial masks.
PLA nonwoven fabrics have a wide range of applications, which can be used to produce sterilization wrap, mask, diaper, civil wipe, wet face towel, beauty products, sanitary napkin, sanitary pad and disposable sanitary cloth, etc.How is PLA nonwoven fabric produced?
The raw material of PLA nonwoven fabric is polylactic acid, which is one of the most important biodegradable and environmentally friendly polymer materials among aliphatic polyesters, made from starch raw materials from renewable plant resources (such as corn, cassava, etc.). The production process is to obtain glucose from starch raw materials through saccharification, then ferment glucose and certain strains of bacteria to make high-purity lactic acid, and then synthesize polylactic acid of a certain molecular weight through chemical synthesis methods.
PLA nonwoven fabric is made by carding PLA fiber with skin core structure into a web and then using hot air setting. The bonding process during hot air setting is mainly divided into four stages: heat transfer, flow, diffusion, and pressurized cooling.
PLA in the melting process, with the heating temperature rising, under the action of temperature and pressure first melt part, accompanied by the flow of polymer, diffusion, so that the fiber intersections bonded together. After cooling, the molten polymers solidify and form a spatial three-dimensional bonding structure in the form of dots.
Therefore, PLA nonwoven production technology is similar to spunbond technology, but more complex than spunbond technology, and belongs to a relatively new field. If you would like to produce a PLA nonwoven that meets high standard of the market, you’d better to choose equipment that is specialized in the production of PLA non-woven fabric.SUNTECH Textile Machinery, is a professional brand under Strength Machinery engaged in nonwoven manufacturing machines and finished product machines, including spunbond, spunmelt, meltblown, spunlace, baby care, feminine care, adult incontinence and mask machines. Our STair and STeco technology achieved the integration of technology with manufacturing, featured with high speed, stability, efficiency, and high automation. Today, we have more than 4500 customers worldwide and cooperate with over 100 countries, providing top quality machinery equipment applied in a wide range of industries like textile, hygiene and health, acquiring a reliable reputation among our customers worldwide.
SUNTECH Textile Machinery cares about global environmental protection and and has been studying PLA technology for many years, integrating PLA technology into spunbond nonwoven production lines(meltblown machine), collecting and studying common problems in PLA nonwoven production, and improving equipment for these production problems at the beginning of design, our PLA spunbond non-woven machine adopts our leading technology, and the material produced is fine and uniform, which can improve the utilization rate of PLA raw materials, ensuring the filtering and permeability of the nonwoven, reducing downtime, and realizing the efficient and high-quality production of PLA nonwoven as well. Please feel free to contact us if you have any inquiries. We are ready to be your development partner always, empowering your success.
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