Toray and PTT Global Chemical establish 100% bio-based nylon 66 production

Overview

Toray and PTT Global Chemical established a chain of manufacturing technologies converting starch residues into bio-muconic acid, then to bio-based adipic acid and 100% bio-based nylon 66, validated through pilot and lab-scale demonstrations.

Feedstock and saccharification

The feedstock is cassava pulp, a non-food starch residue; Toray demonstrated saccharification converting 66 t/day of cassava pulp (≈85% moisture) into 5 dry t/day of glucose using membrane-based, energy-saving separation.

Fermentation and refinement

PTT GC validated a proprietary microbial strain for efficient bio-muconic acid fermentation at pilot scale (≈50 m3 fermenter), and both companies developed processes to refine fermentation broth into high-purity bio-muconic acid suitable for chemical conversion.

Chemical conversion and polymerization

Toray converted refined bio-muconic acid to bio-based adipic acid meeting nylon 66 polymerization purity requirements, and completed lab-scale polymerization and fiber processing of nylon 66 using bio-based adipic acid and bio-based hexamethylenediamine (HMDA).

Next steps and funding

Partners will focus on scaling up and cost reduction with the aim of commercial textile products using 100% bio-based nylon 66 by FY2028; the work was supported by METI's FY2023 supplementary budget for future-oriented co-creation.