A biodegradable fiber’s lightning-quick behaviors pose a
challenge. A new generation of synthetic polymer fibers is
starting to transform the textile industry. The fibers are made
from polylactic acid (PLA) and have the potential to replace
polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which
accounts for 40 percent of the world’s textile production.
Unlike PET, the manufacture of PLA fibers is not a drain on
fossil fuels: the fibers are polymerized from lactic acid
produced by the fermentation of natural sugars in agricultural
crops. The fibers are also biocompatible and biodegradable.
Polymer fibers are often fabricated with a melt-spinning
technique. Viscous molten polymer is pumped through a plate
filled with small holes, leaving strands of viscous liquid that
stretch and begin to solidify as they wind onto a take-up spool.
All of this happens extremely quickly. Fiber spinning rates can
reach 9,000 meters per minute and transit times from plane to
take-up spool can last less than a millisecond. Duri