Abstract: An artificial leather is provided having excellent flame retardancy and moderate air permeability and a flexible texture, where the artificial leather feels like natural suede and has an elegant appearance, the artificial leather including a fiber entanglement including an ultrafine fiber having an average single fiber diameter of 0.1 ?m or more and 10 ?m or less, and an elastomer, in which one surface is a napped surface having a raised nap, the other surface is a flame retardant surface having a flame retardant, and the following requirements 1 and 2 are satisfied: requirement 1: at least the flame retardant surface has a plurality of opening portions; requirement 2: the flame retardant has a tackiness of 0.1 N/cm2 or more and 2.0 N/cm2 or less.

Abstract: Provided is an artificial leather, which exhibits light transmitting properties and maintains its texture and touch while being dark-colored and having a medium or higher density, the artificial leather including a fiber entangled body formed of ultrafine fibers having an average single fiber diameter of 0.1 to ?m; and an elastomer, in which the artificial leather has a thickness of 0.4 to 1.2 mm and a weight per unit area of 80 to 450 g/m2, where one surface of the artificial leather is a design surface colored with a dye and/or a pigment and satisfies the following Formulas (1) to (3): L*1?55 . . . ??(1) L0>50 . . . ??(2) ?L* <?5 . . . ??(3) where L*1, L*0 and ?L* are as defined.

Abstract: The invention relates to an environmentally friendly production method for a sheet-like article that does not use an organic solvent in the production process and provides a sheet-like article that compares favorably in terms of a uniform feel with artificial leather products produced from an organic solvent based polyurethane and in particular has good surface quality and texture and also provides a production method therefor. The present invention aims to provide a sheet-like article comprising a fibrous base material formed of ultrafine fibers and/or ultrafine fiber bundles provided with, as a binder, a polymer elastomer having a hydrophilic group, any thickness-directional cross section of the sheet-like article containing regions occupied by the polymer elastomer, the regions including independent regions each with a cross-sectional area of 50 ?m2 or more, the total area of the independent regions accounting for 0.1% or more and 5.

Abstract: Provided is an environmentally friendly process for producing a sheet-shaped material having both an elegant, napped appearance and a soft texture, which qualities have not been achieved concurrently, and also exhibiting good abrasion resistance. The process of the present invention for producing a sheet-shaped material includes the successive steps of (a) adding a polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of saponification of 98% or more and a degree of polymerization of 800 to 3,500 to a fibrous substrate in an amount of 0.1 to 50% by mass relative to the total mass of fibers in the fibrous substrate; (b) adding a waterborne polyurethane to the fibrous substrate with the added polyvinyl alcohol; and (c) removing the polyvinyl alcohol from the fibrous substrate with the added waterborne polyurethane.

Abstract: A sheet-like article is provided including a fibrous base material formed of ultrafine fibers and/or ultrafine fiber bundles provided with, as a binder, a polymer elastomer having a hydrophilic group, any thickness-directional cross section of the sheet-like article containing regions occupied by the polymer elastomer, the regions including independent regions each with a cross-sectional area of 50 ?m2 or more, the total area of the independent regions accounting for 0.1% or more and 5.0% or less of the cross-sectional area of the artificial leather in an observation view field.

Abstract: The present invention provides a process including: (i) dissolving, in water, a polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of saponification of 98% or more and a degree of polymerization of 800 to 3500 to prepare a polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution in which the concentrations of methyl acetate, acetic acid and methanol are 50 ppm or less, (ii) adding the polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution to a fibrous substrate having microfiber-generating fibers as its main constituent, so that the fibrous substrate has the polyvinyl alcohol in an amount of 0.1 to 50% by mass based on the mass of the fibers contained in the fibrous substrate, (iii) generating microfibers having an average single fiber diameter of 0.

Abstract: Provided is an environmentally friendly process for producing a sheet-shaped material having both an elegant, napped appearance and a soft texture, which qualities have not been achieved concurrently, and also exhibiting good abrasion resistance. The process of the present invention for producing a sheet-shaped material includes the successive steps of (a) adding a polyvinyl alcohol having a degree of saponification of 98% or more and a degree of polymerization of 800 to 3,500 to a fibrous substrate in an amount of 0.1 to 50% by mass relative to the total mass of fibers in the fibrous substrate; (b) adding a waterborne polyurethane to the fibrous substrate with the added polyvinyl alcohol; and (c) removing the polyvinyl alcohol from the fibrous substrate with the added waterborne polyurethane.