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Cuprammonium rayon is a
rayon
Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose f ...
fiber made from
cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...
dissolved in a
cuprammonium
Schweizer's reagent is the metal ammine complex with the formula u(NH3)4(H2O)2OH)2. This deep-blue compound is used in purifying cellulose.
It is prepared by precipitating copper(II) hydroxide from an aqueous solution of copper sulfate using sod ...
solution,
Schweizer's reagent
Schweizer's reagent is the metal ammine complex with the formula u(NH3)4(H2O)2OH)2. This deep-blue compound is used in purifying cellulose.
It is prepared by precipitating copper(II) hydroxide from an aqueous solution of copper sulfate using sod ...
.
It is produced by making cellulose a soluble compound by combining it with
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
and
ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...
with
caustic soda
Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions .
Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alka ...
. The solution is passed through a
spinneret
A spinneret is a silk-spinning organ of a spider or the larva of an insect. Some adult insects also have spinnerets, such as those borne on the forelegs of Embioptera. Spinnerets are usually on the underside of a spider's opisthosoma, and are ...
and the cellulose is regenerated in hardening baths that remove the copper and ammonia and neutralize the caustic soda. Cuprammonium rayon is usually made in fine filaments that are used in lightweight summer dresses and blouses, sometimes in combination with
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
to make textured fabrics with slubbed, uneven surfaces.
The fabric is commonly known by the trade name "Bemberg", owned by the
J.P. Bemberg
J. P. Bemberg was a German rayon manufacturer that produced an unusually fine artificial fiber which became known as Bemberg®. J. P. Bemberg came under the control of Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken and eventually disappeared after a series of merg ...
company. The fabric may also be known as "cupro" or "cupra". It is also known as "ammonia silk" on Chinese fashion retail websites.
History
Cuprammonium rayon was invented in 1890.
Swiss
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...
Matthias Eduard Schweizer
Matthias Eduard Schweizer (8 August 1818 – 23 October 1860) was a Swiss chemist
who in 1857 invented Schweizer's reagent, in which cellulose can be dissolved to produce artificial silk or rayon.
He was one of the pioneers of the synthetic textil ...
(1818–1860) discovered that cellulose dissolves in
tetraaminecopper dihydroxide.
Max Fremery
Max Fremery (29 March 1859 – 1 March 1932) was a German chemist and industrialist. He was one of the founders of the (VGF) in 1899. VGF became a major manufacturer of artificial fibers.
Early years (1859–85)
Fremery was born in Cologne on 2 ...
and
Johann Urban
Johann Urban (or Johannes Urban, 7 June 1863 – 13 November 1940) was an Austrian chemist and industrialist. He was one of the pioneers of the artificial silk industry.
Early years
Johann Urban was born on 7 June 1863 in Wuchern (now Vuhred) near ...
developed a method to produce
carbon fiber
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
s for use in
light bulb
An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...
s in 1897 (the factory closed in 1902). Production of cuprammonium rayon for
textiles
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
started in 1899 in the
Vereinigte Glanzstoff Fabriken AG
Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken (VGF, United Rayon Factories) was a German manufacturer of artificial fiber founded in 1899 that became one of the leading European producers of rayon.
During the first thirty years VGF cooperated closely with the Br ...
in
Oberbruch near
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
.
[''Verinigte Glanstoff Fabriken'' merged with the ''Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabrieken'' in 1929 to form the ''Algemene Kunstzijde Unie'', ]AkzoNobel
Akzo Nobel N.V., stylized as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational company which creates paints and performance coatings for both industry and consumers worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, ...
's predecessor. An improvement by
J. P. Bemberg AG
J. P. Bemberg was a German rayon manufacturer that produced an unusually fine artificial fiber which became known as Bemberg®. J. P. Bemberg came under the control of Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken and eventually disappeared after a series of merg ...
in 1904 made the artificial silk a product comparable to
real silk.
[''J. P. Bemberg AG'' was one of the '']Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken
Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken (VGF, United Rayon Factories) was a German manufacturer of artificial fiber founded in 1899 that became one of the leading European producers of rayon.
During the first thirty years VGF cooperated closely with the B ...
'' which merged into the Dutch based ''Algemene Kunstzijde Unie'' (AKU)--AkzoNobel
Akzo Nobel N.V., stylized as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational company which creates paints and performance coatings for both industry and consumers worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, ...
today.
Properties
* The fibers are very fine
* It has a soft,
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
-like handle (i.e., tactile feel)
* It has similar properties to cotton. It is different in that the average
degree of polymerization
The degree of polymerization, or DP, is the number of monomeric units in a macromolecule or polymer or oligomer molecule.
For a homopolymer, there is only one type of monomeric unit and the ''number-average'' degree of polymerization is given b ...
is lower and a larger part of this fiber is occupied by amorphous regions, causing cuprammonium rayon to swell
* It burns rapidly and chars at 180°C
* On ignition, it leaves behind ash containing copper
* It can be used to create fabric that is sheer and lightweight and has desirable draping properties
Production
Cellulose is dissolved in a
3)4">u(NH3)4OH)
2 solution and then regenerates as rayon when extruded into
sulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
.
References
Synthetic fibers
Cellulose
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