The main source of chemical fiber is oil, so some people joke that "this is an era of wearing oil", then what is the past life of chemical fiber?

In 1904, pharmacist F.T. Tenhaupt invented the method of extracting casein protein from cow milk and spinning it to produce casein protein fiber.

However, this method was not mature in production until the 1930s by A. etti in the Snia company in Italy.

In the early 1940s, the British company Courtaulds also developed casein protein fibers.

In 1938, the British ICI company prepared peanut protein fiber.

In the 30s and 40s, the American scholar R.A.Boyer successfully developed soybean protein fiber.

In 1938, the Japanese oil company also developed soybean protein fiber.

In 1939, the United States Core Product refining company spun protein from corn to produce corn protein fiber.

In 1948, the American Vaiginia Carolina Chemical Company developed corn gluten fiber.

However, the regenerated protein fibers developed in the early stage did not gain an important position in the market due to poor mechanical properties and technical difficulties. In the United Kingdom, peanut protein fiber was discontinued as early as "AtdilIC" in 1957, and in the United States, corn protein fiber "Vicara" and soybean protein fiber "Soylon" were only produced for a short time. Among them, the casein protein fiber "Chinon" of Japan Toyo Textile Company became one of the top ten inventions of chemical fiber in the world in 1968. However, its main component is grafted copolymer of casein protein and acrylonitrile. Because the cost of raw materials is too high, and its strength is insufficient, heat resistance is not good, so far it has not been used in large quantities.

From the end of the 19th century to the 1930s (before 1938), it can be called the innovation and initial stage of artificial fibers. Artificial fiber is a branch of chemical fiber, so of course, it is also the innovation and initial stage of chemical fiber. It is characterized by a large number of cellulose and protein as raw materials of artificial fiber varieties have come out, especially viscose fiber has begun large-scale production, to make up for the serious shortage of natural silk. Of course, fiberglass also has an ancient history, and it improved in the 1930s and became commercially important. Therefore, it should also have a place in the first generation of man-made fibers.

The development of synthetic fibers

Another branch of the chemical fiber family - synthetic fibers, until the industrialization of artificial fibers half a century later, with the advent of a large number of synthetic polymers and the establishment of the concept of modern polymers, it was on the stage of history.

chlorylon

In 1913, the German F.K latte obtained the first patent for the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride fibers from synthetic raw materials.

In 1931, the German IG chemical company adopted the invention of F.Klatte and realized the industrialization of PVC fiber in 1934, making it the earliest synthetic fiber produced in the world. However, due to its shortcomings such as poor heat resistance, the development is slow.

Polyamide (nylon) fiber

The most famous in the history of synthetic fiber is polyamide (nylon) fiber.

In 1928, Harvard University professor W. H. Carothers published a study on polycondensation into chain molecules and ring molecules. This pioneering work led to the true beginning of the era of synthetic fibers.

In the spring of 1935, he successfully synthesized polyamide 66 with hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid and spun it into silk strips. Du Pont established an intermediate pilot plant in 1938, successfully produced polyamide 66 fiber called "Nylon" in 1939, and was put on the market in 1940, becoming the world's first large-scale production of synthetic fibers for textile.

During this period, P.Schlack of IG Company in Germany successfully synthesized polyamide 6. In 1938, polyamide 6 was first spun into a coarse monofilament, and in 1940, it was spun into a filament, called "Perlon". However, due to the war, large-scale production of the Perlon was not carried out until 1950.

Polyamide fiber is widely used, and its output still ranks second in the chemical fiber family. The advent of polyamide fiber also opened the first melt spinning technology. Because previously all chemical fibers were spun by dry spinning process (such as acetate fiber) or wet spinning process (such as viscose fiber, nitrate fiber, copper ammonia fiber, polyvinyl chloride fiber, the latter of which was also spun by dry spinning process).

polyester

In 1930, W. H. Carothers invented aliphatic polyester, but the low melting point was not conducive to melt spinning.

In 1941, J.R.Hinfield and J.T.Ickson of Calico Printers Association, a dyeing and finishing company in the United Kingdom, successfully studied the polycondensation of terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol, and in 1944, the melt spinning was used to produce silk strips.

In 1947, ICI in the United Kingdom adopted melt spinning technology to realize the industrialization of polyethylene terephthalate fiber. DuPont bought the patent from the United Kingdom and began mass production of polyester fiber Dacron in 1953. Polyester fiber is widely used, and its production has exceeded polyamide since 1972, ranking first in the chemical fiber family.