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
