Biobased Furan Polymers as Next-Generation Synthetic Fibers for Circular Textiles

Abstract The textile industry is a major contributor to many global environmental challenges, such as greenhouse gas emissions and low recycling rates. In particular, the widespread use of fossil-based, non-recyclable polyester-cotton blends in textiles presents substantial challenges to advancing sustainability and establishing a circular economy. Bio-based polyesters are considered as potential alternatives for producing textiles with lower environmental impacts, but they frequently exhibit critical limitations as fiber materials in textile applications. Here, we present a practical approach for evaluating the spinnability of emerging bio-based polymers and report the development of poly(butylene furanoate) (PBF) as a renewable and chemically recyclable alternative to conventional polyesters. PBF exhibits high molecular weight via scalable melt polycondensation and excellent melt-spinnability into fine, high-tenacity fibers. The resulting fibers are readily dyeable under mild conditions and, they can be chemically recycled from polycotton blends via mild methanolysis depolymerization, yielding the original monomers in high yield and purity while preserving the integrity of the cotton fibers. The corresponding recovered monomers can be conveniently repolymerized into high-quality PBF, demonstrating a fully circular material platform. These findings revealed that PBF could be a promising biobased material for next-generation sustainable textiles, combining desirable performance, processability, renewability, and product circularity.