October 26, 2020 – BASF was awarded the "CIIF New Material Award" for innovation at the 22nd China International Industry Fair (CIIF). BASF has made innovative improvements to PolyTHF®, which has won unanimous praise from the CIIF review committee. This product is mainly used to produce elastic spandex textile fiber, synthetic film and artificial leather. This year, a total of 20 companies competed for ten awards in the "New Materials" category. BASF is the only award-winning company in the textile sector.
With the joint efforts of BASF and its Chinese partner HZBL Spandex Technology Group, a comfortable spandex fiber for denim garments based on PolyTHF® was manufactured, which marked the first commercial success of this material. The company launched a series of products using comfortable spandex fabric at the China International Textile Fabrics and Accessories (Autumn and Winter) Expo held in September this year, including cotton socks and mask ear straps.
PolyTHF®-based comfort spandex has a series of excellent mechanical properties, such as lower strain-inducing force, greater elongation, higher tear strength, lower hysteresis loss, etc., and can be lower than normal in a larger temperature range. The rigidity of spandex makes the final product produced with this material softer, and can provide a comfortable feel even below zero.
Dr. Hu Bei, BASF's Global Vice President and in charge of the Intermediate Business Unit in Greater China, said: "PolyTHF®-based innovations have further expanded BASF's product portfolio, allowing us to help customers develop new applications and optimize the performance of existing applications. We believe that this will help customers launch more customized solutions to better meet current market needs and cater to future market development trends."