Source: ACIMIT

Man-Made Fibres: Reference Books of Textile Technologies

A Survey of Man-made Fibres History

Man-made cellulose fibres

The first man-made fibres which were developed and produced used polymers of natural origin, more precisely of cellulose which is a raw material available in large quantities in the vegetable world.

The beginning of industrial production of man-made fibres goes back to the year 1890, when the French Count Hilaire de Chardonnet started up his plant for the production of "Chardonnet silk" (initial output: 50 kg per day), using the cellulose nitrate process.

As it happens in general in the case of technical-scientific developments, this achievement was the result of previous studies and researches (since approximately the year 1840) focused mainly on the chemical properties of cellulose.

In particular the researchers found the way to treat cellulose (a material insoluble in usual solvents and inflammable) with nitric acid (nitrification), to dissolve the derivative with solutions of alcohol-ether, to prepare suitable extrusion devices (spinnerets) and finally to regenerate cellulose through saponification in alkaline baths (denitrification) in order to eliminate the danger inherent in the nitro compound (inflammable and explosive).

Actually the birth date of the "artificial silk" (such was the name given to this fibre at its introduction) is said to date back some years before (1884) when an Englishman, Mr. Swan, produced small quantities of nitrocellulose which the researcher gad in mind to use for the development of incandescent bulbs.

More or less in the same period another way had been searched for to make cellulose capable of being spun, after being discovered that cellulose could be dissolved in a mixture of copper oxide and ammonia (Schweitzer's reagent, 1857).

In fact this principle had been the basis in Germany for the production initially of incandescent bulbs (1891), then of cuprammonium fibres (1897) via the so-called "cupro" process, which was improved with the draw-spinning process (1891) and resulted in the production of Bemberg cupro yarn in 1909.

Meanwhile a patent had been registered in England by the researchers Cross, Bevan and Beadle (1892) for the production of sodium cellulose xanthate and for its dissolution in dilute caustic soda. In this way the bases were laid for the production of a man-made cellulose fibre, now called viscose, which remained for decades the main process in use for the production of manmade fibres.

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Acknowledgements

Fondazione ACIMIT feel bound to thank Centro Tessile Cotoniero e Abbigliamento of Busto Arsizio and in particular General Manager Ms. Grazia Cerini and Technical Manager Ms. Gabriella Fusi, who kindly accepted the assignment of producing this "Man-made Fibres" Notebook.

The drafting of present work was entrusted by Centro Tessile to Mr. Cesare Andreoli and Mr. Fabrizio Freti, to whom Fondazione ACIMIT owes a special thank for the time and enthusiasm they dedicated to the production of this Notebook.

This notebook is republished with due permission from ACIMIT: Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers