Cuprammonium rayon
{{Short description|Early cellulose fibre}}
File:Brown cupra lining fabric.jpg
File:Rayon synthesis.webm comes into contact with sulfuric acid, the cellulose begins to precipitate from the solution. The sulfuric acid reacts with a complex compound of copper and dissolves it. Thin blue fibers of rayon are formed. After some time, sulfuric acid reacts with the complex compound and washes out the copper salts from the fibers. The fibers become colorless.]]
Cuprammonium rayon is a rayon fiber made from cellulose dissolved in a cuprammonium solution,{{cite web | url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cuprammonium%20rayon | title=cuprammonium rayon | accessdate=December 1, 2011}} Schweizer's reagent.{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/anie.199408841|title=Cellulose in Schweizer's Reagent: A Stable, Polymeric Metal Complex with High Chain Stiffness |year=1994|last1=Burchard|first1=Walther|last2=Habermann|first2=Norbert|last3=Klüfers|first3=Peter|last4=Seger|first4=Bernd|last5=Wilhelm|first5=Ulf|journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English|volume=33|issue=8|pages=884–887}}
It is produced by making cellulose a soluble compound by combining it with copper and ammonia with caustic soda. The solution is passed through a spinneret 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 suit jacket linings as well as lightweight summer dresses and blouses, sometimes in combination with cotton to make textured fabrics with slubbed, uneven surfaces.{{cite web|url=http://www.afma.org/f-tutor/rayon.htm |title=Rayon Fiber |accessdate=December 1, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406101953/http://www.afma.org/f-tutor/rayon.htm |archivedate=April 6, 2008 }}
The fabric is commonly known by the trade name "Bemberg", owned by the J.P. Bemberg company. The fabric may also be known as "cupro" or "cupra". It is also known as "ammonia silk" on Chinese fashion retail websites.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}
History
Cuprammonium rayon was invented in 1890.{{cite web |last1=Davidson |first1=Michael W. |title=Cuprammonium Rayon Fibers |url=https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/techniques/polarized/gallery/pages/cuprammoniumrayonsmall.html |website=Polarized Light Microscopy Digital Image Gallery |publisher=The Florida State University |accessdate=2 July 2020}}
Swiss chemist Matthias Eduard Schweizer (1818–1860) discovered that cellulose dissolves in tetraaminecopper dihydroxide. Max Fremery and Johann Urban developed a method to produce carbon fibers for use in light bulbs in 1897 (the factory closed in 1902).[https://web.archive.org/web/20090322020858/http://www.industriepark-oberbruch.de/publish/en/location/history/historie.html Over 100 years old and still going strong From Glanzstoff (artificial silk) factory to industry park]. industriepark-oberbruch.de Production of cuprammonium rayon for textiles started in 1899 in the Vereinigte Glanzstoff Fabriken AG in Oberbruch near Aachen.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}Verinigte Glanstoff Fabriken merged with the Nederlandse Kunstzijdefabrieken in 1929 to form the Algemene Kunstzijde Unie, AkzoNobel's predecessor.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}} An improvement by J. P. Bemberg AG in 1904 made the artificial silk a product comparable to real silk.{{Ullmann|first1=Hans|last1=Krässig|first2=Josef|last2=Schurz|first3=Robert G.|last3=Steadman|first4=Karl |last4=Schliefer|first5= Wilhelm |last5=Albrecht|first6=Marc |last6=Mohring|first7=Harald|last7=Schlosser|title=Cellulose|year=2002|doi=10.1002/14356007.a05_375.pub2}}J. P. Bemberg AG was one of the Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken which merged into the Dutch based Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (AKU)--AkzoNobel today.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}
Properties
- The fibers are very fine{{cite web | url=http://mytextilenotes.blogspot.com/2009/05/properties-of-cuprammonium-rayon.html | title=Properties of Cuprammonium Rayon | accessdate=December 1, 2011| date=2009-05-15 }}
- It has a soft, silk-like handle (i.e., tactile feel)
- It has similar properties to cotton. It is different in that the average degree of polymerization 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 [Cu(NH3)4](OH)2 solution and then regenerates as rayon when extruded into sulfuric acid.
References
{{refs}}
External links
- [http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed062p878 A demonstration of the cuprammonium rayon process]
- [http://mytextilenotes.blogspot.com/2009/05/manufacturing-process-of-cuprammonium.html Manufacturing Process of Cuprammonium Rayon]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120426011628/http://www.jcfa.gr.jp/english/cs/seni/e_cupro.html Cuprammonium Rayon Fibers]
{{ navbox timeline
| name = Timeline
| state = uncollapsed
| title = Some cupro rayon production{{Cite web|url=https://www.asahi-kasei.co.jp/fibers/en/bemberg/sustainability/production.html|title=Production System|website=www.asahi-kasei.co.jp}}
| startyear = 1910
| endyear = 2020
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| label: JP Bemberg, Germany
| JP Bemberg, Germany | 1916-1985 | style: background-color:yellow;
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| label: Bemberg S.p.A., Italy
| Bemberg S.p.A., Italy | 1924-2009 | style: background-color: green
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| label: American Bemberg Corp/Beaunit Mills
| American Bemberg Corp/Beaunit Mills | 1925-1974 | style: background-color: pale blue;
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| label: British Bemberg
| British Bemberg | 1928-1955 | style: background-color: white
|
| label: Asahi Kasei, Japan
| Asahi Kasei, Japan (ongoing as of 2021) | 1931-2022 | style: background-color: red
}}
Category:Products introduced in 1890
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