Abstract
It is about 20 years since synthetic pulp was developed. In the beginning we thought that synthetic pulp could be a material as substitute to replace wood pulp. Afterwards the synthetic pulp had faced twice the oil crises, so that the aim of it on first stage had to be given up on economical standpoint.
At the present, however, synthetic pulp can get a position as a pulp-like special fiber in various fields, thanks of so much efforts in Pulp & Paper industry and others.
Synthetic pulp is a highly fibrillated and hydrophillic polyolefine fiber similar to wood pulp and is characterized by binding effect, heat sealability, water resistance, pore size controllability, powder capturing effect, thixotropic property and so forth. So by making the best use of these characteristics, synthetic pulp has been used not only in special paper field (battery separator, heat sealable paper, etc) but also in sanitary goods (diaper, etc) and asbestos replacement field.
