Vinylon (polyvinyl alcohol fibre)
Vinilón (fibra de alcohol polivinílico)
- Date
- 1939 · confidence high
- Place
- Kyoto, Japan
- Credited to
- Ri Sung-gi, Ichiro Sakurada and Hiroshi Kawakami
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A synthetic fibre of polyvinyl alcohol made insoluble with formaldehyde, the first synthetic fibre invented in Asia. It is strong, cheap and cotton-like in feel.
Ri Sung-gi, a Korean, worked at Kyoto Imperial University and took the fibre to North Korea after 1945, where it was promoted as a national invention. Academic priority in 1939 belongs to the Kyoto group.
What it led to
- industrial production in Japan from 1950 (Kurashiki)
- North Korea's national fibre (Vinalon) with a plant in Hamhung
- use in nets, ropes and cement reinforcement