Polypropylene gains polyester-like dyeability

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Biomaterials company Newlight Technologies and Japan-based Prime Polymer have developed a polypropylene-based textile material designed to overcome poor dyeability, a key barrier to the fibre's wider use in apparel.

The companies combined Prime Polymer’s polypropylene alloy design and compounding technology with Newlight’s Aircarbon PHB, a biomaterial made by microorganisms from methane and air. Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a naturally occurring polymer that microorganisms produce and store as an energy reserve.