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Chardonnet rayon

textile
Also known as: Chardonnet silk

Quick Summary

Chardonnet rayon, also known as Chardonnet silk, was the first commercially produced synthetic fiber. Developed by French chemist Hilaire Bernigaud, comte de Chardonnet, it was created by extruding a solution of cellulose nitrate through fine glass capillaries. Chardonnet patented his process in 1884 and publicly displayed his rayon products at the Paris Exposition of 1889. A factory opened in 1891, marking the beginning of rayon's commercial production.12

Rayon is an artificial textile made from regenerated cellulose derived from plant sources, developed as a substitute for silk in the late 19th century. While Chardonnet's process was innovative, it was slow, expensive, and potentially dangerous due to the flammability of nitrocellulose. Other methods for producing rayon, such as cuprammonium rayon and viscose rayon, were developed later and became more common.21

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