Germany's BASF receives CIIF New Materials Award in China

Germany's BASF receives CIIF New Materials Award in China

German multinational chemical company BASF has received the 2020 ‘CIIF New Materials Award’ on innovation. Awarded by the China International Industry Fair (CIIF) in September at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre in Shanghai, the judging panel applauded BASF for its novel modification of PolyTHF, used to produce elastic spandex textile fibres and synthetic films and leather.

Twenty companies competed for ten awards this year in the ‘new materials’ category. BASF was the only awardee in the textile segment, said a BASF press release.

The first successful application of the product marked m-PolyTHF is the production of soft spandex fibres for denim garments, a joint achievement between BASF and Chinese producer Hangzhou Banglian Spandex (Banglian).

The companies introduced a series of soft spandex-based products like socks and ear bands for surgical masks at the Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics trade show in Shanghai from September 23 to 25.

Being liquid at room temperature, m-PolyTHF offers improved processing properties when compared with conventional PolyTHF and has excellent mechanical properties like lower strain induced force, higher elongation, excellent tear strength and lower hysteresis loss.

It exhibits lower stiffness than PolyTHF under a wider temperature range. This enables products to be softer and offers better hand feeling properties even below freezing temperatures.

CIIF is jointly organised by the ministry of industry and information technology, National Development and Reform Commission, the ministry of commerce, the ministry of science and technology, the Chinese Academy of Science, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation and Shanghai Municipal People's Government.