Goal is to replace petroleum items.
DuPont's new kind of carpet, from corn
A good hand.
In the carpet industry, this is the phrase for a rug so velvety soft to touch that a female shopper can't keep her hands off it.
DuPont Co. has developed such a carpet fiber - from corn, says one of the nation's largest carpet manufacturers. "The product is incredibly soft," gushed Tom Lape, president of residential flooring at Mohawk Industries Inc., of Calhoun, Ga.
The corn-based carpet fiber, branded as Sorona, will hit retailers' shelves this fall as DuPont builds markets for a versatile molecule it manufactures from corn sugar.
DuPont, based in Wilmington, said recently that it had developed such additional uses for the corn-sugar molecule as an airplane and runway de-icer, antifreeze, a cosmetic ingredient, and a detergent additive.
The molecule, with some biochemical engineering, also can be used as an ingredient for bio-based elastomers. DuPont has branded this product Cerenol and expects to sell it to automakers for flexible hoses and CV joints. Cerenol could be used to make spandex-like clothing and soles for running shoes, the company said.
Peter Hemken, vice president and general manager of bio-based materials at DuPont, said he believed Cerenol products could be found in new cars in two years, after tests have been done. Success depends on the "suction from the carmakers for these kinds of materials," he said.
DuPont has said its goal has been to introduce new bio-based products that were comparable in quality - and economics - to petroleum-based products they would be competing against and replacing.
DuPont's push is part of a broad movement in U.S. industry to develop alternatives to petroleum-based products and energy.
DuPont, with partner Tate & Lyle P.L.C., has built a $100 million plant in Loudon, Tenn., where it processes corn into the special molecule, which is called 1, 3 propanediol.
Lape, of Mohawk, said corn-based Sorona was "an easy marketing story" - with its pro-environment message. "Ethanol folks have really paved the way for us," he said. But Lape added that Sorona's stain resistance and good feel have made it popular with carpet buyers. Sorona has been available in Mohawk carpet since 2005. However, so far, Sorona has been made with petroleum-based raw materials. In the next few months, the process will transition to corn with the output from the DuPont-Tate & Lyle plant.
"We had to get into the business to make sure we had the demand," Lape said of the initial start with petroleum-based Sorona.
Sorona carpet is one of the strongest new-product launches in the last 20 years at Mohawk, Lape said, noting that there were about 50 styles of carpet available in the material.
At DuPont, officials say more bio-based innovations are on the way. "A lot of companies will be working on new processes and new ways of manufacturing things," Hemken said.
"We've been working on this for a decade, and for most of that time, we were in our own world," said Carl Lukach, vice president of DuPont investor relations. "The world is ready."