On the floor, bico almost always means sheath-core staple with a low-melting polyethylene or copolyester sheath. It is the standard binder for through-air bonded topsheets and acquisition layers and for airlaid cores, where a modest share of bico can hold a pulp web together. Ordering just bico without the polymer pair, ratio and dtex invites the wrong fiber at the dock.
Airlaid recipe is 12 percent bico, and if you go any lower the core starts linting and splitting.
Also heard as
- bi-co
- bicomp
Related terms
Bicomponent fiber
Fiber spun from two different polymers in one cross section, such as a low-melting sheath around a strong core.
Binder fiber
Low-melting fiber blended into a web so that, when heated, it softens and glues the other fibers together.
Through-air bonding
Thermal bonding that pulls hot air through the web so binder fibers fuse without the web being crushed.
Airlaid
Web formed by suspending short fibers, mostly fluff pulp with some binder fiber, in air and depositing them on a wire.