Unitika Ltd.

Nippon Unicar Company Limited

Kouji Esaki

Takashi Inoue

Yoshiki Miyahara

Shigetaka Nishimura

Satoshi Kasetani

Hiroshi Tanaka

A nonwoven fabric having biodegradability which can be advantageously used as a biodegradable material for general disposable-type household supplies represented by such items as sanitary materials, wiping cloths, and packaging materials. The nonwoven fabric is formed of a fiber material made of poly-.epsilon.-caprolactone and/or poly-.beta.-propiolactone. The nonwoven fabric contains not less than 20% by weight of such a fiber material having a filament fineness of 0.8 to 6 denier. This provides sufficient tensile strength and soft hand which enable the nonwoven fabric to be advantageously used in practical applications. Where the nonwoven fabric is formed of a superfine fiber of the above noted type having a filament fineness of less than 0.8 denier, it has particularly remarkable soft hand.

Biodegradable nonwoven fabrics and method of manufacturing same

A method of making a nonwoven fabric having biodegradability which can be advantageously used as a biodegradable material for general disposable-type household supplies represented by such items as sanitary materials, wiping cloths, and packaging materials. The nonwoven fabric is formed of a fiber material made of poly-.epsilon.-caprolactone and/or poly-.beta.-propiolactone. The nonwoven fabric contains not less than 20% by weight of such a fiber material having a filament fineness of 0.8 to 6 denier. This provides sufficient tensile strength and soft hand which enable the nonwoven fabric to be advantageously used in practical applications. Where the nonwoven fabric is formed of a superfine fiber of the above noted type having a filament fineness of less than 0.8 denier, it has particularly remarkable soft hand.

Method of manufacturing biodegradable nonwoven fabrics

Biodegradable nonwoven fabrics

Growing community of inventors

Matsudo, Japan

Kouji Esaki