India’s Birla Cellulose has filed a joint patent application with Australia’s Nanollose for high tenacity lyocell fibres made from bacterial cellulose.
The lyocell market is predicted to be worth US $ 1.5 billion by 2024.
Both the companies, leaders in textile industry, will now focus on taking this success to the pilot production phase so as to produce initial commercial quantities of fibre to enable commercial agreements with fashion brands.
Dr. Aspi Patel, Chief Technology Officer of the Aditya Birla Group and Birla Cellulose, said, “This innovative development is another important step in our continuing journey to make our fibres more sustainable. This is an exciting development in the area of next generation alternative feedstock, and we are looking forward to scaling up this technology in collaboration with Nanollose.”
The patent application, entitled High Tenacity Lyocell Fibres from Bacterial Cellulose and method of preparation thereof, is said to represent a major advancement over Nanollose’s previous viscose versions of nullarbor and nufolium.
Using the lyocell process, a team of fibre experts at Birla Cellulose, Pulp and Fibre Innovation Centre has produced nullarbor fibre that is finer than silk and significantly stronger than conventional lyocell that is traditionally produced from wood pulp.
Lyocell is a form of rayon, which is made using a closed loop process with low demand on chemical and water usage and low waste generation. This makes it environment-friendly and brings with it an elevated demand from clothing brands.
