A polyarylene ether copolymer comprising i) at least one block comprising in polymerized form A) isosorbide, isomannide, isoidide or a mixture thereof and B) at least one unit comprising at least one difunctional compound comprising at least one dichlorodiaryl sulfone, a dichlorodiaryl ketone or a mixture thereof and ii) at least one block comprising in polymerized form C) at least one polyalkylene oxide, a process for its preparation and its use in the preparation of coatings, films, fibers, foams, membranes or molded articles.

A polyarylene ether sulfone comprising in polymerized form A) isosorbide, isomannide, isoidide or a mixture thereof and B) at least one nonsulfonated dihalodiaryl! sulfone (compound B) and C) at least one sulfonated dihalodiaryl sulfone (compound C), a process for its preparation and its use in the preparation of coatings, films, fibers, foams, membranes or molded articles.

A textile material comprises a plurality of dyed polyphenylene sulfide fibers comprising a disperse dye that is distributed substantially evenly across the cross-sectional area of the fibers. A method for dyeing polyphenylene sulfide fibers comprises the steps of (a) providing a textile material comprising polyphenylene sulfide fiber, (b) providing a dye liquor comprising a liquid medium and a disperse dye, (c) applying the dye liquor to the textile material, (d) heating the textile material under ambient atmosphere to a temperature sufficient to evaporate substantially all of the liquid medium from the textile material, and (e) heating the textile material under ambient atmosphere to a temperature of about 180 C. or more to fix the disperse dye to the polyphenylene sulfide fibers.

A poly(phenylene sulfide) fiber contains 1-10% by weight of a poly(phenylene sulfide) oligomer having a weight-average molecular weight of 5,000 or less, has a difference between a cold crystallization heat quantity (Hc) and a crystal melting heat quantity (Hm) during temperature rising in DSC, HmHc, of 25 J/g or larger, and has an elongation of less than 40% and a strength of 3.0 cN/dtex or higher. The poly(phenylene sulfide) fiber has high heat resistance and chemical resistance and high strength and, despite this, has excellent suitability for high-order processing, e.g., thermal shapability, because the amorphous parts thereof have high molecular movability.