LYOCELL FIBER (TENCEL)

Lyocell is the generic name for a biodegradable fabric that's made out of treated wood pulp,It's is a solvent-spun cellulosic fiber-an innova­tion of the 1990s in this oldest group of manufactured fibers It's commonly sold under the brand name Tencel®, which is made by Lenzing AG. Known for its versatility, durability, and strength when both wet and dry, this material is used in everything from clothing to cars. . Research went on at Courtaulds Fibres Plc., U.K. from the late 1970s, with the pilot plant stage reached in 1988; during this time the fiber was referred to by the name "Genesis." The first of this type marketed in North America was TENCEL®, a staple fiber made by Courtaulds, with the first com­mercial production plant in Mobile, Alabama, in late 1992. By the late 1990s, Courtaulds had turned over this fiber to the Dutch firm, Akzo Nobel, which had held the original patent on the solvent spinning process, and Tencel Fibres Europe was formed to for­ward applications of TENCEL staple there. TENCEL is used alone and blended with cotton, flax, polyester, and wool, plus some blends with spandex. Akzo Nobel, expert in high-speed spinning of filament yarns, and building on work done by American Enka, formed a separate fibers company and introduced the first filament lyocell under the trademark name NEWCELL® (by Acordis), with resulting wider appli­cations of this fiber type in "silky" fabrics.