Teijin Fibers Limited, the Teijin group's core polyester fiber company, announced that a car seat fabric made 100% of BIOFRONT, a green bioplastic produced almost completely from plant-based feedstock, is being used in the Mazda Premacy Hydrogen RE Hybrid vehicle that the Mazda Motor Corporation began leasing recently. The BIOFRONT seats incorporate an upgraded version of a fabric co-developed by Teijin Fibers and Mazda in autumn 2007. According to the company, the new version offers improved texture and quality due to fabric's optimized structure and enhanced dyeing/finishing processing, improvements that have further upgraded the fabric's suitability as a mass-produced material for automotive interiors.
Developed by Teijin, BIOFRONT is an innovative heat-resistant bioplastic, with a melting point of 210°C, which is significantly higher than the 170°C melting point of conventional polylactide (PLA). BIOFRONT's extra heat resistance enables it to endure high-temperature, high-pressure dyeing as well as develop products that offer the levels of quality and durability demanded of automotive interior materials. Teijin Fibers will continue to refine BIOFRONT fabric for use in automobiles, aiming at sales within the industry of 100 million yen in 2011 and 300 million yen in 2012.
06-Apr-09 
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