China Annual Conference on Healthcare Textiles was recently held in Hanchuan, Hubei Province. On the conference, a new fiber material – chitosan fiber nonwoven fabric was introduced.

According to the developer of this nonwoven fabric – professor Ma Jianwei of Qingdao University, chitosan is a kind of high-molecular material made from chemically treated chitin, which is extracted from the shells of shrimp and crab. It is the No. 2 biological fiber resource following vegetable fibers and it is biodegradable and pollution-free. Chitosan fiber nonwoven fabric not only has silk aspects like "light-weighted, thin and transparent", but also has good anti-bacteria and chelating adsorptive properties. It can be used for making facial mask, diaper, sanitary napkin, etc.

At present, key technologies for extracting chitosan fiber from shrimp and crab shells have been developed and the fiber has been put into industrial production. It is expected to change the situation of high dependency on imported materials for high-end healthcare textiles.

"This new nonwoven fabric has good properties and competitive price. 100 million pieces of facial mask substrate can be sold in 2015", said Liu Xiaohui, president of Hainan Litian Industrial Co., Ltd.

Data of the "Blue Book of China"s Healthcare Product Industry" show that in 2015, the industrial output of China"s healthcare textiles sector is expected to top CNY 100 billion and this will help change the traditional textile industry into a high value-added and competitive industry.

Source: China Textile Leader Express