Everything about Rayon totally explained
Rayon is a manufactured regenerated
cellulosic fiber. Rayon is produced from naturally occurring
polymers and therefore it isn't a truly
synthetic fiber, nor is it a
natural fiber. It is known by the names
viscose rayon and
art silk in the
textile industry.
History
Nitrocellulose
The fact that
nitrocellulose is soluble in
organic solvents such as
ether and
acetone, made it possible for
Georges Audemars to develop the first "
artificial silk" about
1855, but his method was impractical for commercial use.
Hilaire de Charbonnet,
Comte de Chardonnay, patented "
Chardonnay silk" in
1884. The commercial production started 1891, but it was
flammable, and more expensive than acetate or
cuprammonium rayon. Because of this, production was stopped before
World War I, for example
1912 in
Germany.
Acetate method
Paul Schützenberger discovered that cellulose can be reacted with
acetic acid anhydride to form
cellulose acetate. The
triacetate is only soluble in
chloroform making the method expensive. The discovery that hydrolyzed cellulose acetate is soluble in less polar solvents, like
acetone, made production of cellulose acetate fibers cheap and efficient.
Cuprammonium method
The
German chemist Eduard Schweizer discovered that
tetraamminecopper dihydroxide could dissolve cellulose.
Max Fremery and
Johann Urban developed a method to produce
carbon fibers for use in
light bulbs in 1892. Production of rayon for
textiles started in
1899 in the
Vereinigte Glanzstofffabriken AG in
Oberbruch. Improvement by the
J.P. Bemberg AG in
1901 made the artificial silk a product comparable to
real silk.
Viscose method
Finally, in
1894,
Charles Frederick Cross,
Edward John Bevan, and
Clayton Beadle patented their artificial silk, which they named "
viscose", because the reaction product of
carbon disulfide and
cellulose in basic conditions gave a highly viscous solution of
xanthate.
Avtex Fibers Incorporated began selling their formulation in
1910 in the United States.
The name "rayon" was adopted in
1924, with "viscose" being used for the viscous organic liquid used to make both rayon and
cellophane. In
Europe, though, the fabric itself became known as "viscose," which has been ruled an acceptable alternative term for rayon by the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission.
The method is able to use
wood (cellulose and
lignin) as a source of cellulose while the other methods need lignin-free cellulose as starting material. This makes it cheaper and therefore it was used on a larger scale than the other methods.
Contamination of the waste water by
carbon disulfide, lignin and the
xanthates made this process detrimental to the
environment. Rayon was only produced as a filament fiber until the
1930s when it was discovered that broken waste rayon could be used in
staple fiber.
The physical properties of rayon were unchanged until the development of
high-tenacity rayon in the
1940s. Further research and development led to the creation of high-wet-modulus rayon (HWM rayon) in the 1950s .
Major fiber properties
Rayon is a very versatile fiber and has the same comfort properties as natural fibers. It can imitate the feel and texture of
silk,
wool,
cotton and
linen. The fibers are easily
dyed in a wide range of colors. Rayon fabrics are soft, smooth, cool, comfortable, and highly absorbent, but they don't insulate body heat, making them ideal for use in hot and humid climates .
The durability and appearance retention of regular rayon are low, especially when wet; also, rayon has the lowest
elastic recovery of any fiber. However,
HWM rayon is much stronger and exhibits higher durability and appearance retention. Recommended care for regular rayon is dry-cleaning only; HWM rayon can also be machine washed
High Wet Modulus rayon (HWM) is a modified version of viscose that has a greater strength when wet. It also has the ability to be
mercerized like cotton. HWM rayons are also known as "polynosic" or can be identified by the trade name
Modal .
High Tenacity rayon is another modified version of viscose that has almost twice the strength of HWM. This type of rayon is typically used for industrial purposes such as
tire cord .
Modal and
Tencel are widely used forms of rayon produced by
Lenzing Fibers Corp. which is based in northern
Austria .
Galaxy,
Danufil, and
Viloft are rayon brands produced by
Kelheim Fibres, a
German manufacturer.
Acordis is a major manufacturer of cellulose based fibers and yarns. Production facilities can be found throughout Europe, the U.S. and
Brazil .
Visil rayon is a
flame retardant form of viscose which has
silica embedded in the fiber during manufacturing. .
North American Rayon Corp of
Tennessee produced viscose rayon until its closure in the year 2000. .
Grasim of
India is the largest producer of rayon in the world (claiming 24% market share). It has plants in
Nagda,
Kharach and
Harihar - all in India. .
Uses of rayon
Some major rayon fiber uses include
apparel (for example blouses, dresses, jackets, lingerie, linings, scarves, suits, ties), furnishings (for example bedspreads, blankets, window treatments, upholstery, slipcovers), industrial uses (for example medical surgery products, non-woven products, tire cord), and other uses (for example yarn, feminine hygiene products)
.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Rayon'.
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