Artificially manufactured fibers, often based on polymers
Synthetic fibers
or
synthetic fibres
(in
British English
;
see spelling differences
) are
fibers
made by humans through
chemical synthesis
, as opposed to
natural fibers
that are directly derived from
living
organisms, such as plants (like cotton) or fur from animals. They are the result of extensive research by
scientists
to replicate naturally occurring
animal
and
plant fibers
. In general, synthetic fibers are created by
extruding
fiber-forming materials through
spinnerets
, forming a fiber. These are called synthetic or artificial fibers. The word polymer comes from a Greek prefix "poly" which means "many" and suffix "mer" which means "single units". (Note: each single unit of a polymer is called a monomer).
The first synthetic fibres
[
edit
]
Nylon
was the first commercially successful synthetic thermoplastic polymer. DuPont began its research project in 1927. The first nylon, nylon 66, was synthesized on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Hume Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station.
The next step was taken by
Hilaire de Chardonnet
, a French
engineer
and
industrialist
, who invented the first artificial
silk
, which he called "Chardonnet silk". In the late 1870s, Chardonnet was working with
Louis Pasteur
on a remedy to the epidemic that was destroying French
silkworms
. Failure to clean up a spill in the darkroom resulted in Chardonnet's discovery of
nitrocellulose
as a potential replacement for real silk. Realizing the value of such a discovery, Chardonnet began to develop his new product,
[1]
which he displayed at the
Paris Exhibition of 1889.
[2]
Chardonnet's material was extremely flammable, and subsequently replaced with other, more stable materials.
Commercial products
[
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]
The first successful process was developed in 1894 by English chemist
Charles Frederick Cross
, and his collaborators
Edward John Bevan
and Clayton Beadle. They named the fiber "
viscose
", because the reaction product of
carbon disulfide
and
cellulose
in basic conditions gave a highly viscous solution of
xanthate
.
[3]
The first commercial viscose
rayon
was produced by the UK company
Courtaulds
in 1905. The name "rayon" was adopted in 1924, with "viscose" being used for the viscous organic liquid used to make both rayon and
cellophane
. A similar product known as
cellulose acetate
was discovered in 1865. Rayon and acetate are both artificial fibers, but not truly synthetic, being made from
wood
.
[4]
Nylon
, the first synthetic fiber in the "fully synthetic" sense of that term,
[
citation needed
]
was developed by
Wallace Carothers
, an American researcher at the chemical firm
DuPont
in the 1930s. It soon made its debut in the
United States
as a replacement for
silk
, just in time for the introduction of rationing during
World War II
. Its novel use as a material for women's
stockings
overshadowed more practical uses, such as a replacement for the silk in
parachutes
and other
military
uses like
ropes
.
The first
polyester
fiber was patented in Britain in 1928 by the International General Electric company.
[5]
It was also produced by British chemists working at the
Calico Printers' Association
,
John Rex Whinfield
and James Tennant Dickson,
[6]
[7]
in 1941. They produced and patented one of the first polyester fibers which they named
Terylene
, also known as
Dacron
, equal to or surpassing
nylon
in toughness and resilience.
[8]
ICI
and
DuPont
went on to produce their own versions of the fiber.
The world production of synthetic fibers was 55.2 million tonnes in 2014.
[9]
Descriptions
[
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]
About half of all fibres are synthetic, with applications in every field of fiber and textile technology. Although many classes of fibers based on synthetic polymers have been evaluated as potentially valuable commercial products, four of them -
nylon
,
polyester
,
acrylic
and
polyolefin
- dominate the market. These four account for approximately 98 percent by volume of synthetic fiber production, with polyester alone accounting for around 60 percent.
[10]
Synthetic fibers are a source of
microplastic
pollution from laundry machines.
[11]
Common synthetic fibers
[
edit
]
Common synthetic fibers include:
Specialty synthetic fibers include:
[
citation needed
]
Other synthetic materials used in fibers include:
Modern fibers that are made from older artificial materials include:
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Garrett, Alfred (1963).
The Flash of Genius
. Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc. pp.
48?49
.
- ^
Inventive Genius
. New York: Time-Life Books. 1991. p.
52
.
ISBN
978-0-8094-7699-2
.
- ^
Day, Lance; Ian McNeil (1998).
Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology
. Taylor & Francis. p. 113.
ISBN
978-0415193993
.
- ^
Woodings, Calvin R.
"A Brief History of Regenerated Cellulosic fibers"
. WOODINGS CONSULTING LTD.
Archived
from the original on 22 April 2012
. Retrieved
26 May
2012
.
- ^
Loasby, G. (1951). "The Development of the Synthetic Fibres".
Journal of the Textile Institute Proceedings
.
42
(8): P411?P441.
doi
:
10.1080/19447015108663852
.
- ^
World of Chemistry
. Thomson Gale. 2005.
Archived
from the original on 28 October 2009
. Retrieved
1 November
2009
.
- ^
Allen, P (1967). "Obituary".
Chemistry in Britain
.
- ^
Frank Greenaway, 'Whinfield, John Rex (1901?1966)', rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
accessed 20 June 2011
- ^
Man-Made Fibers Continue To Grow
Archived
28 April 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
, Textile World
- ^
J E McIntyre, Professor Emeritus of Textile Industries, University of Leeds, UK (ed.).
Synthetic fibers: Nylon, polyester, acrylic, polyolefin
. Woodhead Publishing - Series in Textiles. Vol. 36. Cambridge. Archived from
the original
on 17 July 2011
. Retrieved
21 April
2010
.
- ^
Katsnelson, Alla (2015).
"News Feature: Microplastics present pollution puzzle"
.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
.
112
(18): 5547?5549.
Bibcode
:
2015PNAS..112.5547K
.
doi
:
10.1073/pnas.1504135112
.
PMC
4426466
.
PMID
25944930
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- The original source of this article and much of the synthetic fiber articles (copied with permission) is Whole Earth magazine, No. 90, Summer 1997.
www.wholeearth.com
Archived
6 January 2009 at the
Wayback Machine