Teijin Fibers developed Bewell, a highly durable polyester yarn that is resistant to static electricity and prevents pollen from sticking to clothing, in 2006 and launched it commercially in 2007. Having raised monthly production at the company's Matsuyama plant from 20 tons to 90 tons last November, the company is now planning to add other clothing items to the Bewell line-up, such as linings, undergarments and uniforms in 2009.

Teijin hopes to increase Bewell’s monthly output to as much as 200 tons in the future, by developing an even finer version of the fibre as well as marketing Bewell globally. The company is also planning to make Bewell from chemically recycled yarn, part of an initiative to use chemically recycled yarn for all polyester yarn the company produces in Japan.

International travellers visiting Japan in the springtime might be surprised to see many people wearing gauze masks. Although some Japanese like to wear masks while suffering from colds, the masks seen in springtime are often being worn for an entirely different reason - hay fever - in part due to Japan's high concentration of cedar and cypress forests.

While the masks do help to mitigate the symptoms of hay fever, they do nothing to stop the pollen from clinging to the person's clothes and being carried into the home, where it continues to cause allergies.

With pollen levels rising and more people suffering from hay fever year by year, Teijin Fibers developed a pollen-shedding polyester material called Pollenbarrier in 2002 and began marketing it mainly for sports outerwear. Test results show that 80% of the pollen that lands on Pollenbarrier falls off thanks to its smooth structure and special processing.

Teijin Fibers also markets an advanced version of the material, called Pollenbarrier AS, which is made from Bewell, highly durable polyester yarn that is resistant to static electricity, thereby helping to prevent pollen from sticking to clothing.

Conventional polyester is hydrophobic, so it easily picks up an electrostatic charge. Although polyester can be processed with an antistatic treatment, the effect tends to be washed out when the material is cleaned.

Bewell is made of conjugate fibres with an antistatic polymer core sheathed in regular polyester polymer. The material also receives a special treatment developed by Teijin Fibers using antistatic agents that are dispersed on a nanometre scale, so the coating is thorough.

Besides being highly antistatic, Bewell can be handled with all the ease of conventional polyester fibres. Its soft texture is the result of the fineness of the Bewell fibre, which was developed with Teijin’s advanced yarn-production know-how. According to Teijin, with its excellent water shedding quality, Pollenbarrier AS is a highly suitable material for various types of outerwear used in sports such as tennis and golf.

About Teijin
Teijin is a global technology-driven group operating in five main fields: synthetic fibers; films and plastics; pharmaceuticals and home health care; trading and retail; and IT and new products. Teijin Limited is listed on the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges and has a market capitalization of USD 4.1 billion. The company had consolidated sales of USD 10.3 billion in fiscal 2007, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. Teijin Fibers Limited is the Teijin Group's polyester fibre operation and conducts RandD, manufacturing and marketing of materials and textiles made from polymer and polyester fibres.

Source: Innovationintextiles.com