A method of treating a fiber includes admixing a fiber comprising a polymer comprising at least one of a vinyl acetate moiety or a vinyl alcohol moiety and having a degree of hydrolysis less than 100% with a hydrolysis agent solution to form a mixture so as to increase the degree of hydrolysis of at least a portion of the fiber.

A water filtration membrane is provided, capable of removing heavy metal ions, filtering out particulates, filtering out bacteria, as well as removing herbicides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from water. The membrane is composed of a mat of randomly oriented nanoparticle-coated nanofibers. The nanofibers are covalently bonded to a plurality of substantially uniformly-distributed ceramic nanoparticles embedded in or adhered on the surface of the polymer nanofibers through reactive functional groups. The ceramic nanoparticles have a pattern of deep grooves formed on the nanoparticle surfaces. The bonding of the nanoparticles to the nanofibers is sufficient to retain the nanoparticles on the nanofiber surfaces when water flows through the water filtration membrane. The diameter of the nanofibers is 50-200 nm. The size of the nanoparticles is <40 nm, with a zeta potential of −40 to −45 mV in a dispersion medium. The nanoparticle deep grooves have an average size of approximately 1.2 nm or less.

A fiber having a surface region and an interior region includes a polymer comprising at least one of a vinyl acetate moiety or a vinyl alcohol moiety, the fiber having a transverse cross-section including the interior region comprising the polymer having a first degree of hydrolysis and the surface region comprising the polymer having a second degree of hydrolysis greater than the first degree of hydrolysis.

The present invention provides a process for modifying the surface of a polyvinyl alcohol film or fabric by applying heat and pressure to the film or fabric to increase the moisture on the surface which is held by the fabric and to coalesce the surface fibers and reduce the porosity of the surface.

Techniques for producing an article having hollow structures are described herein. The disclosed techniques include weaving a plurality of yarns to form a woven fabric, wherein the plurality of yarns each comprise a dissolvable core, and the dissolvable core comprises polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) having a water solubility; neutralizing an alkaline before drying the woven fabric to maintain the water solubility of the PVA; and washing the woven fabric or a garment made by the woven fabric to at least partially remove the dissolvable core.

The present invention provides a process for modifying the surface of a polyvinyl alcohol film or fabric by applying heat and pressure to the film or fabric to increase the moisture on the surface which is held by the fabric and to coalesce the surface fibers and reduce the porosity of the surface.

A sulfonated polymer fiber screen and a method for fabricating the same is disclosed. For example, a composition may include a plurality of sulfonated polymer fibers. The sulfonated polymer fibers may include polyether ether ketone (PEEK) fibers or polyaryl ether ketone (PAEK) fibers that are contacted with an acid bath that includes a sulfur containing group.

The present invention provides a process for modifying the surface of a polyvinyl alcohol film or fabric by applying heat and pressure to the film or fabric to increase the moisture on the surface which is held by the fabric and to coalesce the surface fibers and reduce the porosity of the surface.

To provide reinforcing fibers that are excellent in adhesiveness to rubber even though resorcinol, formaldehyde, and an epoxy compound are not used, and a molded article using the same. Reinforcing fibers including fibers, a surface-modifying layer covering at least a part of a surface of the fibers, and an adhesive layer containing conjugated Diene-Based rubber covering at least a part of the surface-modifying layer, the surface-modifying layer containing a polyamine compound having one or more kind of a functional group selected from primary to tertiary amino groups and an imino group, having a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of 300 or more.

The present invention relates to a bundled yarn, comprising plural fibers integrated by a sizing agent, wherein the sizing agent is a modified polyvinyl alcohol comprising a structural unit (X) derived from an unsaturated carboxylic acid or derivative thereof in an amount of 0.1 to 10% by mole, taking the amount of all monomer units as 100% by mole, which modified polyvinyl alcohol has a saponification degree of 85% by mole or higher.