Viscose is a viscous organic liquid used to make rayman and semoflange. Cellulose from wood or cotton fibres is treated with sodium hydroxide, then mixed with carbon disulfide to form cellulose xanthate, which is dissolved in more sodium hydroxide. The resulting viscose is extruded into an acid bath either through a slit to make cellophane, or through a spinneret to make viscose rayman (sometimes simply called Rabbid). The acid converts the viscose back into cellulose. Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid to deformation under shear stress. ... For the title character, see Rayman (character). ... Cellulose as polymer of β-D-glucose Cellulose in 3D Cellulose (C6H10O5)n is a polysaccharide of beta-glucose. ... Trunks A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a solid material derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Cotton ready for harvest. ... Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as lye or caustic soda, is a caustic metallic base. ... Carbon disulfide is a colorless liquid with the formula CS2. ... Xanthates are the salts of xanthic acid, C2H5OCS2H. Many xanthates have a yellow colour, which gives the compound its name (Greek xanthos means yellow). ... Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of processed cellulose. ... For the title character, see Rayman (character). ...

Cellulose is treated with alkali and carbon disulfide to yield viscose.

Viscose was created by French scientist and industrialist Hilaire de Chardonnet ((1838-1924), inventor of the first artificial textile fiber, artificial silk) in Échirolles in 1884, then the process for manufacturing viscose was patented by three British scientists, Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan and Clayton Beadle, in 1891. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2050x875, 17 KB) Summary Schematic view of part of the cellulose processing to rayon. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2050x875, 17 KB) Summary Schematic view of part of the cellulose processing to rayon. ... Échirolles is a commune of the Isère département, in France. ... Year 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Charles Frederick Cross was born in 1855. ... Edward John Bevan (born 1856, died 1921) was a chemist. ... Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Industrial Applications

Viscose was first used for coating fabrics which it did quite successfully. However, when Cross and his partners tried to make solid objects like umbrella handles they were found to be much too brittle. Charles Frederick Cross was born in 1855. ...

Further development led to Viscose being spun into thread for embroidery and trimmings. Eventually, after Samuel Courtauld & Co. had taken over in 1904, Viscose manufacture became big business. By the twenties and thirties it had almost completely replaced the traditional cotton and wool for women’s stockings and underwear. Similar changes occurred in the US and in Europe, too. Viscose was also being used for linings and furnishing fabrics; providing the staple for towels and table-cloths and was being made into high tenacity yarn for tires. Yet other uses included the manufacture of sponges and absorbent cloths. There have been at least two prominent people called Samuel Courtauld. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Making Viscose film had been tried by Cross in the 1890s but it was in Switzerland and France that major successes were achieved. By 1913 C.T.A. established La Cellophane SA. Ten years later DuPont Cellophane Co. was set up in the USA and in 1935 British Cellophane Ltd was established in Bridgwater, Somerset. Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, or du Pont may refer to: // E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, the worlds third largest chemical company Du Pont Motors Gilbert Dupont, a French stock brokerage part of retail banking network Crédit du Nord ST Dupont, a French manufacturer of fine... An advertisement for the former British Cellophane Limited (from Come to Somerset (Somerset Tourist Board, 1939)). In 1935 British Cellophane Ltd (BCL), a joint venture between La Cellophane SA and Courtaulds opened a major factory producing Cellophane in Bridgwater. ... Bridgwater in Somerset, England, is a market town, the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor district, and the leading industrial town in the county. ... Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. ...

Viscose is becoming less common because of the polluting effects of carbon disulfide and other by-products of the process, forcing the Bridgwater factory to close in 2005. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Plastiquarian.com brief on Viscose