Chardonnet silk

Description

The first synthetic fiber. Chardonnet silk was the commercial product name for a regenerated cellulose fiber developed by Count Hilaire de Chardonnet in France in 1884. In 1920 DuPont purchased the rights to the process and sold the fibers as Fibersilk. Using the Chardonnet process, a cellulose nitrate solution was pressed through the holes of a spinneret to form fibers. Once the fibers were dried, they were chemically treated to convert the cellulose nitrate back into cellulose. Only small amounts of Chardonnet silk were made because the cellulose nitrate mixture and fibers were flammable and explosive.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Fibersilk

Resources and Citations

• The Textile Institute, Identification of Textile Materials Manchester England, 1985.

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 654

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• Identification of Textile Materials, The Textile Institute, Manchester, England, 1985

• History of Plastics: www.nswpmith.com.au/historyofplastics