Artificial fibres

Synthetic fibers (British English: synthetic fibres) are the result of extensive research by scientists to improve on naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. In general, synthetic fibers are created by extruding fiber forming materials through spinnerets into air and water, forming a thread. Before synthetic fibers were developed, artificially manufactured fibers were made from polymers obtained from petrochemicals. These fibers are called synthetic or artificial fibers. Some fibers are manufactured from plant-derived cellulose.

Joseph Swan invented the first synthetic fiber in the early 1880s. His fiber was drawn from a cellulose liquid, formed by chemically modifying the fiber contained in tree bark. The synthetic fiber produced through this process was chemically similar in its potential applications to the carbon filament Swan had developed for his incandescent light bulb, but Swan soon realized the potential of the fiber to revolutionise textile manufacturing. In 1885, he unveiled fabrics he had manufactured from his synthetic material at the International Inventions Exhibition in London.

The next step was taken by Hilaire de Chardonnet, a French engineer and industrialist, who invented the first artificial silk, which he called "Chardonnet silk". In the late 1870s, Chardonnet was working with Louis Pasteur on a remedy to the epidemic that was destroying French silkworms. Failure to clean up a spill in the darkroom resulted in Chardonnet's discovery of nitrocellulose as a potential replacement for real silk. Realizing the value of such a discovery, Chardonnet began to develop his new product, which he displayed at the Paris Exhibition of 1889. Unfortunately, Chardonnet's material was extremely flammable, and was subsequently replaced with other, more stable materials.

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