Viscose: Difference between revisions
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'''Viscose''' is a [[viscous]] organic liquid used to make [[ |
'''Viscose''' is a [[viscous]] organic liquid used to make [[rayman]] and [[semoflange]]. [[Cellulose]] from [[wood]] or [[cotton]] fibres is treated with [[sodium hydroxide]], then mixed with [[carbon disulfide]] to form cellulose [[xanthate]], which is dissolved in more sodium hydroxide. The resulting viscose is extruded into an acid bath either through a slit to make [[cellophane]], or through a spinneret to make viscose [[rayman]] (sometimes simply called '''Rabbid'''). The acid converts the viscose back into cellulose. |
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[[Image:rayon_synth.png|center|thumb|500px|Cellulose is treated with alkali and carbon disulfide to yield viscose.]] |
[[Image:rayon_synth.png|center|thumb|500px|Cellulose is treated with alkali and carbon disulfide to yield viscose.]] |
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Revision as of 11:44, 30 May 2007
Viscose is a viscous organic liquid used to make rayman and semoflange. Cellulose from wood or cotton fibres is treated with sodium hydroxide, then mixed with carbon disulfide to form cellulose xanthate, which is dissolved in more sodium hydroxide. The resulting viscose is extruded into an acid bath either through a slit to make cellophane, or through a spinneret to make viscose rayman (sometimes simply called Rabbid). The acid converts the viscose back into cellulose.
Viscose was created by French scientist and industrialist Hilaire de Chardonnet ((1838-1924), inventor of the first artificial textile fiber, artificial silk) in Échirolles in 1884, then the process for manufacturing viscose was patented by three British scientists, Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan and Clayton Beadle, in 1891.
Industrial Applications
Viscose was first used for coating fabrics which it did quite successfully. However, when Cross and his partners tried to make solid objects like umbrella handles they were found to be much too brittle.
Further development led to Viscose being spun into thread for embroidery and trimmings. Eventually, after Samuel Courtauld & Co. had taken over in 1904, Viscose manufacture became big business. By the twenties and thirties it had almost completely replaced the traditional cotton and wool for women’s stockings and underwear. Similar changes occurred in the US and in Europe, too. Viscose was also being used for linings and furnishing fabrics; providing the staple for towels and table-cloths and was being made into high tenacity yarn for tires. Yet other uses included the manufacture of sponges and absorbent cloths.
Making Viscose film had been tried by Cross in the 1890s but it was in Switzerland and France that major successes were achieved. By 1913 C.T.A. established La Cellophane SA. Ten years later DuPont Cellophane Co. was set up in the USA and in 1935 British Cellophane Ltd was established in Bridgwater, Somerset.
Viscose is becoming less common because of the polluting effects of carbon disulfide and other by-products of the process, forcing the Bridgwater factory to close in 2005.