Vinylon, also known as Vinalon (more common in Korean sources), is a synthetic fiber produced from reaction between polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber and formaldehyde. Chemically it is polyvinyl formal (PVF). Vinylon was first developed in Japan in 1939 by Ichiro Sakurada, Ri Sung-gi, and H. Kawakami. In North Korea, Ri Sung-gi found a route to produce PVA from domestic anthracite (black coal) and limestone as raw materials. Trial production began in 1954 and in 1961 the massive "Vinylon City" was built in Hamhung, North Korea. Vinylon's widespread usage in North Korea is often pointed to as an example of the implementation of the Juche philosophy, and it is known as the Juche fiber. PVF, in fiber form, is a useful thermoplastic resin on its own, most commonly used as electric wire insulation.
Applications
Vinylon is the national fiber of North Korea and is used for the majority of textiles, outstripping fiber such as cotton or nylon, which is produced only in small amounts in North Korea. Other than clothing, vinylon is also used for shoes, ropes, and quilt wadding. Japanese-Canadian textile artist Toshiko MacAdam used vinylon in her early works, as it was more economical than nylon. Swedish outdoor brand Fjällräven makes their popular Kånken backpack line out of a version of vinylon, branded Vinylon F.
Properties Vinylon is resistant to heat and chemicals but has several disadvantages: being stiff, having a relatively high manufacturing cost, and being difficult to dye.
Production
The production process by Ri is as follows:
Limestone and coal are mixed to produce calcium carbide. The carbide is used to produce acetylene gas. Reaction with acetic acid produces vinyl acetate. Polymerization produces polyvinyl acetate (PVAc). Hydrolysis of PVAc produces polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH). PVOH is stretched into a fiber and spun. The PVOH yarn is finally reacted with formaldehyde to make vinylon, a chain of acetals and hemiacetals. Other locations may use alternative feedstocks to synthesize PVOH.
History
1939: colonial introduction Between the years 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled as a Japanese colony. This fact forced the integration of Korea into the Japanese empire's economic and political spheres. Thus, after the Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937, Korea was integrated into the Japanese war effort. It was amid Japan's efforts towards creating a more scientific and technologically advanced country for the war when a team of researchers worked to fabricate Vinylon. The first successful creation of Vinylon was in 1939, by a Kyoto University research team in Japan, using petroleum as the feedstock. However, Vinylon was later brought to North Korea by Ri Sung-gi, one of the researchers of the Kyoto University team, amid North Korean campaign aimed at the recruitment of scientists and engineers from South Korea in the period following Korea's liberation from Japan in 1945. He was working as a professor at Seoul National University at the time. During the Korean War, when Seoul was occupied by the Korean People's Army, Ri was offered a research position in North Korea, which he accepted. He found a way to produce Vinylon from coal.
1961: Vinylon City, Hungnam After the liberation of Korea in 1945, North Korea was under Soviet occupation and thus provided with aid by the Soviets as a means to stabilize the country. Beginning at the end of the Korean War in 1953, the Soviet Union, China, and other communist countries began actively providing foreign aid to North Korea. Therefore, the North Korean economy heavily depended on aid from other socialist countries.
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