In medical institutions, the high weight of shielding clothing restrains the activities of medical workers. Although lightweight shielding clothing is being manufactured to solve this problem, the weight can only be reduced by 10%–20%. Flexible shielding fibers are mainly used to minimize activity restrictions; however, it is difficult to maintain the reproducibility of shielding performance. When weaving fibers with a yarn that contains a shielding material, the content of the shielding material in the yarn, tensile strength, and problems encountered during weaving should be considered. Therefore, in this study, a high-density shielding fabric weaving process was developed to weave a functional shielding fabric for actively utilizing it for low-dose shielding. The yarn was manufactured using 5 wt% barium sulfate, and the shielding performance was evaluated using the existing plain weave and two fabrics that underwent the newly developed high-density twill weave process. As a result of the experiment, the density of the fabric woven by the twill method increased by 82 g/m³, documenting a difference of 7.46% in the high-energy region and 11.71% in the low-energy region, thus indicating that the Twill method improves the shielding effect. Therefore, it is possible to mass produce lightweight, high-density shielding fabric that can protect against scattered rays that represent the main source of radiation in medical institutions.

Biodegradable polymers are essential for sustainable plastic life cycles and contribute to a carbon-neutral society. Here, we explore the development of biodegradable fibers with excellent mechanical properties using polypropylene (PP) and thermoplastic starch (TPS) blends. To address the inherent immiscibility between hydrophobic PP and hydrophilic TPS, hydrophilic modification and a masterbatch approach were employed. Melt-spinning trials demonstrated that the modified PP and TPS blends (mPP/TPS) exhibited excellent spinnability and processability comparable to virgin PP. A sheath-core configuration was introduced to enhance biodegradability while maintaining structural stability, with an mPP-rich part as the core and a TPS-rich part with a biodegradable promoter (BP) as the sheath. SEM and DSC analyses confirmed strong interfacial compatibility, uniform fiber morphology, and single melting points, indicating no phase separation. Mechanical testing showed that the sheath-core fibers met industrial requirements, achieving a tenacity of up to 2.47 gf/den and tensile strain above 73%. The addition of a BP increased the biodegradability rate, with PP/TPS/BP fibers achieving 65.93% biodegradation after 115 days, compared to 37.00% for BP-free fibers. These results demonstrate the feasibility of blending petroleum-based polymers with bio-based components to create fibers that balance biodegradability, spinnability, and mechanical performance, offering a sustainable solution for industrial applications.