Cellulose Acetate and Triacetate Fibers

Acknowledgments ..............................................................................................................808

References .......................................................................................................................... 808

Camille and Henry Dreyfus developed the first commercial process to manufacture cellulose

acetate in 1905 and commercialized the spinning of cellulose acetate fibers in 1924 in the

United States. At that time, the only other human-made fiber was viscose rayon, which

was still in its early stages of commercialization. The main textile fibers were natural

fibers: cotton, wool, silk, and flax. Cellulose triacetate textile fiber was commercialized later

in the 1950s. The tremendous technical effort by the Dreyfus Brothers resulted in more

than 300 patents describing such significant inventions as the dry-spinning process and

disperse dyeing.