The Hindu Business Line : DuPont’s new polymer Sorona to drive fashion wear

Hyderabad, Jan. 1 From the fashion-conscious youth eager to flaunt designer wear in attractive colours to the chiefs of the corporate world who would like immaculate suits, a new bio-based polymer promises to fit the aspirations.

DuPont, a global science driven company, is betting big on the new polymer — Sorona — to drive a new wave in fashion wear and also tap into it to fabricate a range of products.

To showcase its potential, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the $28-billion Delaware-based DuPont, Mr Chad Holliday, himself wears a suit cut out of the new bio-material, said Dr Uma Chowdhry, Vice-President and Chief Science and Technology Officer.

Sorona will also go into the making of carpets that would be stain-resistant and automotive interiors and textiles. The stain-resistant, stretch recovering characteristics of the polymer, which can also be dyed in bright colours, has thrown open fascinating opportunities, Dr Chowdhry told Business Line here.

DuPont is bullish about the versatile, biotech material, which is the product of extensive research. Company scientists have successfully modified the bacteria, which they use, to get propanediol from corn sugar which is the raw material, she said.

The company has set up a production plant in Loudon, Tennessee, US with an investment of over $100 million, to make the bio-based Propanediol, which is converted to produce the polymer Sorona. Dr Uma Chowdhry was in Hyderabad, to visit the company’s upcoming research and development centre.

Sorona is an example of DuPont’s ability to converge biology, genetics with the existing strengths in polymer science and fibre.

“We are exploring the application of the polymer into a range of personal care products with a green label,” she explained.

DuPont scientists are also working on another bio-material called Ceranol, which could go into a variety of engineering polymers and automotive products. The company’s research centre in Hyderabad, to be called the DuPont Knowledge Centre, is expected to host about 600 scientists and engineers and would be the biggest outside of the US.

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