Spandex
● SPANDEX Development Background
- Spandex, a polyurethane elastic fiber is composed of 85% polyurethane polymer chain segments. The main raw materials of it are PTMEG and MDI.
- Spandex is a segmented liner block copolymer having soft and hard molecular segments. The soft segments provides high elasticity while the hard segments acts as virtual cross links that tie all the polymer chains together into an infinite network to ensure high tensile tenacity and recovery. The special molecular structure makes spandex the best elasticity synthetic fiber so far in the world.
- Spandex can reach 500%-800% elongation, recovery rate over 95%. Besides, it has characteristics like fine fineness, small specific gravity and ageing-resistant which make it an excellent textile raw material with comprehensive properties.
- Due to high elongation, spandex can't be knitted independently. It needs to be mixed with other materials on a very small ratio. 2-5% content will be enough to make fabrics close-fitting, comfortable and overhang. It is an essential raw material for making sportswear, swimwear, women underwear, socks, narrow fabrics, top grade suits, industrial textile applications such as medical & hygiene articles, automotive interiors, etc.
- Bayer (Germany) won the initial successful research of polyurethane resin and fiber in 1937. DuPont (America) started commercial production firstly in 1959. Its brand name is Lycra®
- There are over ten spandex manufacturers in a dozen of countries all over the world.
- The total capacity is around 650,000 tons per year. In China spandex industry started comparatively late but developed at fast speed. Nowadays, China is the biggest spandex manufacturer with annual production capacity around 400,000 tons, taking about 60% of the world capacity.
- Yantai Tayho Advanced Materials Co., Ltd was incorporated in 2011, based on the Yantai spandex plant which was the first spandex producer in China.
- The spandex manufacturing technology was introduced to Yantai Tayho from Toyobo Japan in 1987, and in October 1989, Tayho started spandex production The brand name is NEWSTAR®.
- The production of NEWSTAR® spandex changed the situation that there was no spandex manufacturer in a large textile country, filling in the emptiness of national high grade chemical fiber in China.
- On the basis of introduced world-class advanced technology, Yantai Tayho has made unremitting efforts to research and developed its own technology of spandex manufacturing. The Spandex Industrialization Technology was awarded the Second Prize of National Advanced Technologies. With its own technology, Yantai Tayho is continuously making improvements and new constructions. The product quality and produce capacity is growing all the way. The annual production capacity has reached up to 30,000 tons from 300 tons. The market share takes over 10%, ranking the forefront of spandex industry.
● SPANDEX Applications
- Spandex is the only one in chemical fiber family which has no staple form but only filament form. It can either be knitted with other chemical filament yarn directly, or spun with other fibers (like cotton, wool, linen, silk, polyester, nylon etc) into covering yarn, core spun yarn, or twisting yarn for applications like warp knitting, weft knitting and weaving.
- Spandex's big elongation and high elasticity can improve elasticity property of fabric, making the fabric stretched freely without feel of restriction. It can also improve the garments' style ability, drop ability and anti-drape ability. It is widely used in traditional areas like underwear, socks, tights, sportswear, swimwear, lace and top grade suits, as well as some new merged areas like medical & hygiene textiles and automotive interiors. Spandex is a necessary textile raw material and is called "Textile monosodium".
- As a leading spandex maker in China, Yantai Tayho has enjoyed ever-lasting market popularity with NEWSTAR® for over twenty years since its initial operation. It is used widely in brand products such as Three Gun, Your Sun, Flyinghorse, Hodo, Younger, Goldlion, MongNa, Langsha. The main overseas markets cover Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia.
