Teijin's High Strength Polyester Nanofiber used in Sports Gloves
February 27, 2012 - Japan
Teijin Fibers Limited, the core company of the Teijin Group's polyester fibers business, announced that it is supplying Nanofront high-strength polyester nanofiber for use in the palms of bicycle and motorcycle gloves made by Goldwin Inc., a major sport apparel maker in Japan. This is the first time for Nanofront to be used in bicycle and motorcycle gloves.
The gloves will be marketed by Goldwin and sold in bicycle and motorcycle stores nationwide. The bicycle gloves, available in both full-finger and half-finger versions, will be on the market in late February and the motorcycle gloves in early March.
The gloves offer outstanding grip thanks to Nanofront's excellent frictional properties and soft texture. Nanofront also boasts high moisture absorbency and diffusion for added comfort, making it an ideal material for glove palms.
Nanofront is a high-strength polyester fiber with a thickness of just 700 nanometers, or 7,500 times smaller than the cross section of a human hair strand. Nano-sized bumps on the surface of Nanofront raise frictional force and produce a surface area dozens of times greater than that of regular fiber, resulting in highly superior slip resistance.
Nanofront has a wide variety of clothing and industrial applications, ranging from innerwear, sportswear, golf gloves and skin care products to abrasive cloths and filters. Teijin recently announced a finer version of Nanofront with a fiber diameter of 400 nanometers, an unprecedented achievement for a commercial polyester fiber, which is expected to be used for applications including high-performance air filters.
About the Teijin Group
Teijin is a global technology-driven group operating in eight main fields: aramid fibers, carbon fibers & composites, polyester fibers, plastics, films, medical & pharmaceuticals, fiber products marketing and IT businesses. Teijin Limited, the holding company for the Teijin Group, is listed on the Tokyo and Osaka stock exchanges. The group, comprising 150 companies and 17,542 employees worldwide, had consolidated sales of JPY 815.7 billion (USD 10.6 billion) and total assets of JPY 761.5 billion (USD 9.9 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011.