Rayon
cellulose-based synthetic fiber
Rayon, also called viscose, is a semi-synthetic fiber made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. Many types and grades of rayon fibers and films exist. Some imitate the feel and texture of natural fibers such as silk, wool, cotton, and linen. It can be woven or knitted to make textiles for clothing and other purposes.
Rayon production involves solubilizing cellulose fibers. Three common methods are as follows:
The cuprammonium process (obsolete), using ammoniacal solutions of copper salts
The viscose process (most common) using alkali and carbon disulfide
The Lyocell process, using amine oxide, avoids neurotoxic carbon disulfide but is more expensive
History
French scientist and industrialist Hilaire de Chardonnet (1838–1924) is known as the "father of rayon" for his early development and commercialization of nitrocellulose rayon, the first commercial semi-synthetic fiber. He patented his production process in 1885. Rayon was and still is also known by the name artificial silk.
Swiss chemist Matthias Eduard Schweizer (1818–1860) discovered that cellulose dissolved in tetraamminecopper dihydroxide.
“Rayon” enters the record as cellulose-based synthetic fiber. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Rayon, cellulose-based and synthetic can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q910194. The Library of Congress control number is sh85111604. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1838, 1924, 1885 and 1818.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rayon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.