Two American manufac-turers have joined together to make a special polymer from corn that could be used to produce a new synthetic fabric for swimsuits.

Tate & Lyle, in a 50-50 joint venture with DuPont, is building a plant to create a crucial ingredient for the new synthetic fabric Sorona, a Forbes report said.
The product uses 50 per cent less petroleum than competitors, relying instead on a corn-based sugar and thus ensuring significant cost savings.
The $100-million plant in Loudon, Tennessee, is expected to start commercial production in 2006.
According to estimates, Sorona sales will hit $300 million to $500 million by 2010.
Turning corn into fabric is a complex process.  Tate & Lyle uses enzymes to turn corn, grown in abundance in the American Midwest, into sugar glucose, which is fed into a fermenter where a patented microorganism turns it into a monomer called propanediol.  This monomer is shipped to DuPont polymer plants where it is mixed with terephthalate, a petroleum-based product, creating the polymer Sorona. The polymer is shipped to customers’ factories where it is spun into fibre, then woven or knitted into materials for carpeting and apparel such as bathing suits.