NONWOVEN FABRIC

1 . A nonwoven fabric comprising (i) a nonwoven fabric substrate and (ii) a fluorine-containing polymer adhering to the nonwoven fabric substrate,

wherein the fluorine-containing polymer comprises:

(a) repeating units formed from a fluorine-containing monomer which is alpha-chloro acrylate or alpha-chloro acrylamide containing a fluoroalkyl group, and

(b) repeating units formed from a halogenated olefin monomer, and

the fluorine-containing polymer is free from repeating units formed from a (meth)acrylate containing a linear or branched hydrocarbon group having at least 18 carbon atoms.

2 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-containing monomer (a) is a compound represented by the formula:

CH 2 ═C(—Cl)—C(═O)—Y—Z—Rf

wherein Y is —O— or —NH—;

Z is a direct bond or divalent organic group; and

Rf is a fluoroalkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms.

3 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein Z is a direct bond, a linear or branched aliphatic group having 1-20 carbon atoms,

an aromatic group or cycloaliphatic group having 6-18 carbon atoms,

a group represented by the formula —R 2 (R 1 )N—SO 2 — or the formula —R 2 (R 1 )N—CO—

wherein R 1 is an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms and R 2 is a linear alkylene group or branched alkylene group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, for example, by a —CH 2 CH 2 N(R 1 )SO 2 — group wherein R 1 is an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms,

a group represented by the formula —CH 2 CH(OR 3 )CH 2 —[Ar—(O) q ] p — wherein R 3 is a hydrogen atom or an acyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, Ar is an arylene group optionally having a substituent group, p is 0 or 1, and q is 0 or 1,

a group represented by the formula —(CH 2 ) n —Ar—(O) q — (wherein Ar is an arylene group optionally having a substituent group, n is 0-10, and q is 0 or 1), or

a —(CH 2 ) m —SO 2 —(CH 2 ) n — group or a —(CH 2 ) m —S—(CH 2 ) n — group wherein m is 1-10, and

n is 0-10.

4 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the halogenated olefin monomer (b) is an olefin having 2-20 carbon atoms and substituted by 1-10 chlorine atoms, bromine atoms or iodine atoms.

5 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 4 , wherein the halogenated olefin monomer (b) is at least one selected from the group consisting of vinyl chloride and vinylidene chloride.

6 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-containing polymer further comprises a fluorine-free non-crosslinkable monomer, and

the fluorine-free non-crosslinkable monomer is at least one selected from the group consisting of:

(c1-i) repeating units formed from a (meth)acrylate or (meth)acrylamide monomer containing a linear or branched hydrocarbon group having 17 or less carbon atoms, and

(c1-ii) repeating units formed from a (meth)acrylate or (meth)acrylamide monomer containing a cyclic hydrocarbon group.

7 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 6 , wherein the (meth)acrylate or (meth)acrylamide monomers (c1-i) and (c1-ii) are a compound represented by the formula:

CH 2 ═CA-T

wherein A is a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, or a halogen atom other than a fluorine atom,

T is an open-chain or cyclic organic group having 1 to 31 carbon atoms and an ester bond or amide bond.

8 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 6 , wherein the (meth)acrylate or (meth)acrylamide monomer containing a linear or branched hydrocarbon group having 17 or less carbon atoms (c1-i) is an acrylate represented by the formula:

CH 2 ═CA 1 CO—Z 1 -A 2

wherein A 1 is a hydrogen atom, a methyl group, or a halogen atom other than a fluorine atom,

Z 1 is —O— or —NH—, and

A 2 is an alkyl group represented by C n H 2n+1 wherein n is 1 to 17.

9 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-containing polymer further comprises:

(c2) repeating units formed from a fluorine-free crosslinking (meth)acrylate or (meth)acrylamide monomer.

10 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven fabric substrate is a combination of natural fibers and synthetic fibers,

11 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 10 , wherein the nonwoven fabric substrate is a combination of cellulosic fibers and polyester fibers.

12 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 10 , wherein the weight ratio of the natural fiber to the synthetic fiber is 15:85-45:55.

13 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of the fluorine-containing monomer (a) is 20% to 90% by weight, based on the fluorine-containing polymer, and

the amount of the halogenated olefin monomer (b) is 5 to 300 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the fluorine-containing monomer (a).

14 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 6 , wherein the amount of each of the fluorine-free non-crosslinkable monomers (c1-i) and (c1-ii) is 0 to 500 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the fluorine-containing monomer (a).

15 . The nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of the fluorine-containing polymer adhering to the nonwoven fabric substrate is 0.01 to 5 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the nonwoven fabric substrate.

16 . A method of producing the nonwoven fabric according to claim 1 , which comprises applying the fluorine-containing polymer to the nonwoven fabric substrate.

17 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the fluorine-containing polymer is in the form of an aqueous dispersion.