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Chitosan Fibers
Chitosan
Introduction
New !
CRABYON®, a fibre with
crab's pulp
The
Crabyon®
fiber is realized with a blend of chitosan
and viscose. Chitosan is a product derived from chitin,
a compound of natural origin obtained from the shell of crab and shellfish.
Chitin is an absolutely “safe”
material, with a scientifically proved biocompatibility, and it is used in the
medical, health and pharmacological fields too.
The
chitosan’s structure is very similar to cellulose, so in blends
with cotton and viscose the new Crabyon®
fiber is extremely versatile and easy to dye.
From
the physical resemblance between chitosan and cellulose derive a very high
textile easiness for manufacturing, with an excellent dye ability with reactive
and direct dyestuff, and a very soft “hand”, who make the Crabyon blends
ideal for use in the textile market.
The
antibacterial and antimicrobic performance is given with the inhibition of
the bacteria’s’ growth, so having an anti-smell function too. The
high level of comfort, the anallergicity and the high humidity
absorption (e.g. sweat) give to the clothes realized with this fiber
the capability to be used to direct skin contact, as in underwear, socks,
pyjamas, and so on.
The
Crabyon®
fiber, due to the fact that it is a blend of chitosan and viscose
structurally bound, keeps its characteristics permanently during time,
not being conditioned neither by washes, nor by abrasion or other external
actions.
The
percentage suggested to obtain the above mentioned characteristics varies from 5
to 20% on the fabric, depending on the blend.
Properties
The
fundamental characteristics of chitosan are:
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Very strong antibacterial effect
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Total biodegradability
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Biocompatibility
(anallergicity)
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High humidity absorption
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Chitin/Chitosan has a chemical structures very similar to that of
cellulose. such as cotton and rayon. (Fig. 1)
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Chitin is the natural polysaccharide biologically produced by living
creatures on the earth in huge quantities. Its production is next to the
cellulose, which is biologically produced by plant. It is estimated that total
production of Chitin on the earth annually is about 1 to 100 billion ton.
Chitin/Chitosan is a white and porous polysaccharide that forms a base for the
hard shell of crustaceans like crabs, lobsters and squids. It is also found in
a) insects like dragonflies. grasshoppers and
beetles.
b) mushrooms like
shiitake and enokidake and
c) cell wall of fungi.
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It is also estimated that about 150'000 tons of Chitin is
available for commercial use annually. However. only a few thousand tons are
actually used in the world.
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As long as Chitin is a natural substance included in
food such as crabs, shrimps, mushrooms etc it is quite a safe material. Its safety has been
verified scientifically through many tests.
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Fig.
1 Chemical Structure
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With the following properties in
mind, its applications are widely spread.
Properties and efficacy
of Chitin/Chitosan
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flocculation |
Purifies waste water |
Heavy metal adsorption |
Adsorbs and removes
radioactive substances |
Biodegradation |
Being ab organic
material, the chitin/chitosan is degraded by rnicroorganisms |
Antimicrobial activity |
Inhibits bacterial
growth |
Immunization |
Enhances the body's
immunity to disease |
Cell activation |
Promotes Iysozyme
secretion |
Body activation |
Accelerates wound
healing |
Acceleration of skin
tissue regeneration |
Thin non-woven fabric
is successfully applied to burns. |
Salt adsorption |
Lowers high blood
pressure |
Oil absorption
inhibition |
Helps the body getting
rid of excess fat |
Lowering of
cholesterol |
Catch cholesterol and
lower its level |
Haemostatic action |
Bleeding is easily
stopped |
Slow releasing action |
Permits slow and
steady release of medicines maximizing the efficacy |
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Applications
Area
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Items
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Sports
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Baseball
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Uniform
of professional baseball team
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Wrist
band
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Underwear
for baseball uniform
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Slide
pants etc
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warm-up
suit
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T-shirt
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Socks
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Sweatshirt
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Suit
for Judo
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Underwear
for Judo
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The
others
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Tennis
socks
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Under
wear for soccer, skiing
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Sweat
band
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Inside
cloth of shoes
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Socks
with 5 toes
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Underwear
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Infant
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Child
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Men's
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Men's
underwear, Brief, Trunks
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Lady's
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Lingerie,
Bikini brief
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Socks
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Uniform
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School
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Gymnastic
uniform (Shirts, T-shirt, Sweats)
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Polo
shirts, Spats
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Working
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Polo
shirts, T-shirt
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Office
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Blouse,
Cardigan
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Pyjamas
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Lady's
wear
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Wellbeing
from nature
Crabyon
- The T-shirt made from a Crab's chitosan fiber.
Our
range of underwear and clothing designed especially for sensitive and
delicate skin, is made with this amazing new fiber composed of
Crabyon-Chitosan Micromodal.
Studied
and tested as antibacterial, an allergic and ecocompatible
The
Crabyon Chitosan fiber is suitable for subjects suffering skin troubles
(dermatitis, allergies, decubitus irritation, erythema, ezcema).
Absolute comfort for sensitive and delicate skin.
No
pollution! It is biodegradable!
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Baby
clothes
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Outer
wear
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Blanket
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House
interior
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Bedding
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Ticking
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Bedcover
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Pillowcase
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Towels
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Non-woven
fabric
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Dish
towel
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Mask
filter
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Effective of antibacterial function for a long time
Because Chitin/Chitosan is a built-in part of CRABYON, its antibacterial function stays unchanged against washing or abrasion for a long time.
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Ratio of Chitin/Chitosan in CRABYON is widely variable
Ratio of Chitin/Chitosan can be varied in
wide range of 1 to 99% depending on requirement of fiber. Blended spinning can be done with other fibers such
as wool, cotton, etc.
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Excellent for weak or sensitive skin
CRABYON keeps skin from drying because its
moisture keeping property is more excellent than any other cellulosic fiber.
At the same time it gives a velvet touch and no irritation to the skin. CRABYON is safe and comfortable even for people with weak or sensitive
skin like babies or aged people.
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No change in physical properties
Physical properties of CRABYON are almost
the same as those of regular rayon fiber.
- The dyeability of reactive dyes and direct dyes to CRABYON is excellent
Dyes CRABYON shows excellent touch
and hue.
- CRABYON is very helpful in conserving the
biosystem
Chitin/Chitosan, with activation of Iysozyme, is a natural organic resource essential to conservation of
biosystem of the earth. CRABYON has been developed with the idea of making
the most use of this natural resource.
- A lot of consideration to the environment
OMIKENSHI is making the most use of waste from crab meat processing factories,
crab shell, as raw material of Chitin/Chitosan.
In 1997 OMIKENSHI was award the Ministry of International Trade and Industry
Prize at the Recycle Promoting Council for contribution to recycle of
resources through production of CRABYON.
CRABYON is totally biodegradable. In this sense it is no burden to the
environment.
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Grades
- fibers
- tow/tops
- spun yarns
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The
idea behind the development of CRABYON is the fact that
chemical structure of Chitin/Chitosan is quite similar to
that of cellulose.
The idea led to development of technology to make Chitin/Chitosan
viscose. CRABYON, composite fiber of Chitin/Chitosan and
cellulose, is manufactured by uniformly blending Chitin/Chitosan
and cellulose viscose molecules and extruding the blended viscose into
the spin-bath. OMIKENSHI
has a patent for this technology in Japan and U.S.A
under the title "Process for producing articles of
regenerated Chitin/Chitosan containing material and the
resulting articles". The same patent is pending in U.K.,
Germany, France, Italy, and Austria.
There are two other types of fibers
containing Chitin/Chitosan.
After treatment type
Chitin/Chitosan is fixed on the fabric with binder. It
is apparent that Chitin/Chitosan decreases as fabric is
washed, leading to lesser function.
Mixed type
Chitin Chitosan powder is simply mixed with cellulose
viscose. The more the physical properties of fiber weakens
during wearing/washing the higher the
percentage of powder becomes, there is a limit of
quantities of powder to be mixed. (Fig. 2)
As you can see, CRABYON is completely different from the
above two types fiber.
( fig. 3)
Surface appearance of fiber dyed with acid dyes.
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Fig.
2
Mixed type
Red point are chitosan
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Fig.
3
CRABYON
Chitin/Chitosan and cellulose form so uniformly as to
be dyed green evenly.
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Background
information
What
is CRABYON?
Composite Fiber of Chitin, Chitosan and Cellulose: Only one in the
world Chitin/Chitosan, natural substance, nowadays attracts a lot of
attention in the field of medicine and food for improving human health.
OMIKENSHI, have established a commercial process to produce Chitin/Chitosan
solution without using organic solvent and commercialized production of
fiber under the brand name of CRABYON by co-extruding with cellulose
viscose.
Why
Chitin/Chitosan?
One
point is its high function. It is known that
Chitin/Chitosan is biologically produced on
the earth in large quantities and that Chitin/Chitosan
has many excellent properties. Major and basic
function is activation of LYSOZYME and
CHITINASE, enzymes which decompose cell
membrane and inhibit growth of disease
bacteria. Through this function natural bio
system is kept well balanced and human body is
protected against disease bacteria and toxic
substances.
The other point is its safety. Since
Chitin is 100% natural it is quite a safe
substance. Safety has been well verified through
oral intake and dermal absorption tests. This is
quite different from the other organic and
inorganic functional materials now in the
market.
These two points are key elements for Chitin/Chitosan.
In the worsening environment of the earth, it
is quite essential to rely on the natural
substance such as CRABYON for improving human
health.
For a MSDS
on Crabyon fibers please follow this link
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