Cellulose Based Plastics: Celluloid and Rayon
All Goodyear had done with vulcanization was improve the properties of a natural polymer. The next logical step was to use a natural polymer, cellulose, as the basis for a new material.
Inventors were particularly interested in developing synthetic substitutes for those natural materials that were expensive and in short supply, since that meant a profitable market to exploit. Ivory was a particularly attractive target for a synthetic replacement.
An Englishman named Alexander Parkes developed a "synthetic ivory" named "pyroxlin," which he marketed under the trade name "Parkesine," and which won a bronze medal at the 1862 World's Fair in London. Parkesine was made from cellulose treated with nitric acid and a solvent. The output of the process hardened into a hard, ivory-like material that could be molded when heated.
However, Parkes was not able to scale up the process to an industrial level, and products made from Parkesine quickly warped and cracked after a short period of use. An American printer and amateur inventor named John Wesley Hyatt took up where Parkes left off. Parkes had failed for lack of a proper solvent, but Hyatt discovered that camphor would do the job very nicely.
Hyatt was something of an industrial genius who understood what could be done with such a shapeable, or "plastic," material, and proceeded to design much of the basic industrial machinery needed to produce good-quality plastic materials in quantity. Since cellulose was the main constituent used in the synthesis of his new material, Hyatt named it "celluloid." It was introduced in 1863.
One of the first products was dental pieces. Sets of false teeth built around celluloid proved cheaper than existing rubber dentures. However, celluloid dentures tended to soften when hot, making tea drinking tricky, and the camphor taste tended to be difficult to suppress.
Celluloid's real breakthrough products were waterproof shirt collars, cuffs, and the false shirt fronts known as "dickies," whose unmanageable nature later became a stock joke in silent-movie comedies. They didn't wilt and didn't stain easily, and Hyatt sold them by trainloads. Corsets made with celluloid stays also proved popular, since perspiration didn't rust the stays, as it would if they had been made of metal.
Celluloid proved extremely versatile in its fields of application, providing a cheap and attractive replacement for ivory, tortoise-shell, and bone. Traditional products that had used these materials were much easier to fabricate with plastics. Some of the items made with cellulose in the 19th century were beautifully designed and implemented. For example, celluloid combs made to tie up the long tresses of hair fashionable at the time are now jewel-like museum pieces. Such pretty trinkets were no longer only for the rich.
Celluloid could also be used in entirely new applications. Hyatt figured out how to fabricate the material in a strip format for movie film. By the year 1900, movie film was a major market for celluloid.
However, celluloid still tended to yellow and crack over time, and it had another, more dangerous defect: it burned easily and spectacularly, unsurprising given that mixtures of nitric acid and cellulose are also used to synthesize smokeless powder.
Ping-pong balls, one of the few products still made with celluloid, sizzle and burn if set on fire, and Hyatt liked to tell stories about celluloid billiard balls exploding when struck very hard. These stories might have had a basis in fact, since the billiard balls were often celluloid covered with paints based on another, even more flammable, nitrocellulose product known as "collodion." If the balls had been imperfectly manufactured, the paints might have acted as primer to set the rest of the ball off with a bang.
Cellulose was also used to produce cloth. While the men who developed celluloid were interested in replacing ivory, those who developed the new fibers were interested in replacing another expensive material, silk.
In 1884, a French chemist, the Comte de Chardonnay, introduced a cellulose-based fabric that became known as "Chardonnay silk." It was an attractive cloth, but like celluloid it was very flammable, a property completely unacceptable in clothing. After some ghastly accidents, Chardonnay silk was taken off the market.
In 1894, three British inventors, Charles Cross, Edward Bevan, and Clayton Beadle, patented a new "artificial silk" or "art silk" that was much safer. The three men sold the rights for the new fabric to the French Courtald company, a major manufacturer of silk, which put it into production in 1905, using cellulose from wood pulp as the "feedstock" material.
Art silk became well known under the trade name "rayon," and was produced in great quantities through the 1930s, when it was supplanted by better artificial fabrics. It still remains in production today, often in blends with other natural and artificial fibers. It is cheap and feels smooth on the skin, though it is weak when wet and creases easily. It can also be produced in a transparent sheet form known as "cellophane."
Inventors were particularly interested in developing synthetic substitutes for those natural materials that were expensive and in short supply, since that meant a profitable market to exploit. Ivory was a particularly attractive target for a synthetic replacement.
An Englishman named Alexander Parkes developed a "synthetic ivory" named "pyroxlin," which he marketed under the trade name "Parkesine," and which won a bronze medal at the 1862 World's Fair in London. Parkesine was made from cellulose treated with nitric acid and a solvent. The output of the process hardened into a hard, ivory-like material that could be molded when heated.
However, Parkes was not able to scale up the process to an industrial level, and products made from Parkesine quickly warped and cracked after a short period of use. An American printer and amateur inventor named John Wesley Hyatt took up where Parkes left off. Parkes had failed for lack of a proper solvent, but Hyatt discovered that camphor would do the job very nicely.
Hyatt was something of an industrial genius who understood what could be done with such a shapeable, or "plastic," material, and proceeded to design much of the basic industrial machinery needed to produce good-quality plastic materials in quantity. Since cellulose was the main constituent used in the synthesis of his new material, Hyatt named it "celluloid." It was introduced in 1863.
One of the first products was dental pieces. Sets of false teeth built around celluloid proved cheaper than existing rubber dentures. However, celluloid dentures tended to soften when hot, making tea drinking tricky, and the camphor taste tended to be difficult to suppress.
Celluloid's real breakthrough products were waterproof shirt collars, cuffs, and the false shirt fronts known as "dickies," whose unmanageable nature later became a stock joke in silent-movie comedies. They didn't wilt and didn't stain easily, and Hyatt sold them by trainloads. Corsets made with celluloid stays also proved popular, since perspiration didn't rust the stays, as it would if they had been made of metal.
Celluloid proved extremely versatile in its fields of application, providing a cheap and attractive replacement for ivory, tortoise-shell, and bone. Traditional products that had used these materials were much easier to fabricate with plastics. Some of the items made with cellulose in the 19th century were beautifully designed and implemented. For example, celluloid combs made to tie up the long tresses of hair fashionable at the time are now jewel-like museum pieces. Such pretty trinkets were no longer only for the rich.
Celluloid could also be used in entirely new applications. Hyatt figured out how to fabricate the material in a strip format for movie film. By the year 1900, movie film was a major market for celluloid.
However, celluloid still tended to yellow and crack over time, and it had another, more dangerous defect: it burned easily and spectacularly, unsurprising given that mixtures of nitric acid and cellulose are also used to synthesize smokeless powder.
Ping-pong balls, one of the few products still made with celluloid, sizzle and burn if set on fire, and Hyatt liked to tell stories about celluloid billiard balls exploding when struck very hard. These stories might have had a basis in fact, since the billiard balls were often celluloid covered with paints based on another, even more flammable, nitrocellulose product known as "collodion." If the balls had been imperfectly manufactured, the paints might have acted as primer to set the rest of the ball off with a bang.
Cellulose was also used to produce cloth. While the men who developed celluloid were interested in replacing ivory, those who developed the new fibers were interested in replacing another expensive material, silk.
In 1884, a French chemist, the Comte de Chardonnay, introduced a cellulose-based fabric that became known as "Chardonnay silk." It was an attractive cloth, but like celluloid it was very flammable, a property completely unacceptable in clothing. After some ghastly accidents, Chardonnay silk was taken off the market.
In 1894, three British inventors, Charles Cross, Edward Bevan, and Clayton Beadle, patented a new "artificial silk" or "art silk" that was much safer. The three men sold the rights for the new fabric to the French Courtald company, a major manufacturer of silk, which put it into production in 1905, using cellulose from wood pulp as the "feedstock" material.
Art silk became well known under the trade name "rayon," and was produced in great quantities through the 1930s, when it was supplanted by better artificial fabrics. It still remains in production today, often in blends with other natural and artificial fibers. It is cheap and feels smooth on the skin, though it is weak when wet and creases easily. It can also be produced in a transparent sheet form known as "cellophane."
Plastic Polymers
Plastics are polymers - long-chain carbon-based or "organic" molecules. These chains are made up of repeating fundamental molecular elements, or "monomers."
The term plastics covers a range of mostly synthetic or semi-synthetic organic condensation or polymerization products that can be molded or extruded into objects or films or filaments. The name is derived from the fact the properties are in a semi-liquid state that is malleable, or has the property of plasticity. Plastics vary immensely in temperature tolerance, hardness, resiliency. Combined with this adaptability, the general uniformity of composition and lightness of plastics ensures their use in almost all industrial applications today.
Natural Polymers
People have been using artificial organic polymers for centuries in the form of waxes and shellacs. A plant polymer named "cellulose" provides the structural strength for natural fibers and ropes, and by the early 19th century natural rubber, tapped from rubber trees, was in widespread use.
Eventually, inventors learned to improve the properties of natural polymers. Natural rubber was sensitive to temperature, becoming sticky and smelly in hot weather and brittle in cold weather. In 1834, two inventors, Friedrich Ludersdorf of Germany and Nathaniel Hayward of the US, independently discovered that adding sulfur to raw rubber helped prevent the material from becoming sticky.
In 1839, the American inventor Charles Goodyear was experimenting with the sulfur treatment of natural rubber when, according to legend, he dropped a piece of sulfur-treated rubber on a stove. The rubber seemed to have improved properties, and Goodyear followed up with further experiments, and developed a process known as "vulcanization" that involved cooking the rubber with sulfur. Compared to untreated natural rubber, Goodyear's vulcanized rubber was stronger, more resistant to abrasion, more elastic, much less sensitive to temperature, impermeable to gases, and highly resistant to chemicals and electric current.
Vulcanization remains an important industrial process for the manufacture of rubber in both natural and artificial forms. Natural rubber is composed of an organic polymer named "isoprene." Vulcanization creates sulfur bonds that link separate isoprene polymers together, improving the material's structural integrity and its other properties.
Eventually, inventors learned to improve the properties of natural polymers. Natural rubber was sensitive to temperature, becoming sticky and smelly in hot weather and brittle in cold weather. In 1834, two inventors, Friedrich Ludersdorf of Germany and Nathaniel Hayward of the US, independently discovered that adding sulfur to raw rubber helped prevent the material from becoming sticky.
In 1839, the American inventor Charles Goodyear was experimenting with the sulfur treatment of natural rubber when, according to legend, he dropped a piece of sulfur-treated rubber on a stove. The rubber seemed to have improved properties, and Goodyear followed up with further experiments, and developed a process known as "vulcanization" that involved cooking the rubber with sulfur. Compared to untreated natural rubber, Goodyear's vulcanized rubber was stronger, more resistant to abrasion, more elastic, much less sensitive to temperature, impermeable to gases, and highly resistant to chemicals and electric current.
Vulcanization remains an important industrial process for the manufacture of rubber in both natural and artificial forms. Natural rubber is composed of an organic polymer named "isoprene." Vulcanization creates sulfur bonds that link separate isoprene polymers together, improving the material's structural integrity and its other properties.
Plastic Recycling and the Environment
Although plastics have had a remarkable impact on our culture, it has become increasingly obvious that there is a price to be paid for their use.
The first controversy arose in the late 1950s and early 1960s. There were a number of incidents where small children crawled into plastic bags used by launderers to cover clothing, and suffocated. The plastics industry managed to fend off trouble by launching a massive public-education campaign.
By the late 1960s, plastics were increasingly seen as a symbol of an outdated 1950s consumer culture. The term "plastic" became an insult, used to describe someone thought of as soulless. At the end of the 1960s, the Beatles would even sing of "Polyethylene Pam," a "go-getter" who would do anything to get ahead.
This was partly just a fashion statement, since plastics remained in widespread use anyway, and in many cases were much more effective and environmentally benign than alternative materials. However, this led to a problem as well, since the consumption of massive amounts of plastic goods led to a massive problem with litter and waste disposal.
Plastic was almost too good, as it was durable and degraded very slowly. In some cases, burning it could release toxic fumes. There was also the problem that manufacturing plastics often created large quantities of nasty chemical pollutants, and depleted the Earth's bounded supply of fossil fuels.
By the 1990s, plastic recycling programs were common in the United States and elsewhere. Thermoplastics can be re-melted and reused, and thermoset plastics can be ground up and used as filler, though the purity of the material tends to degrade with each reuse cycle. There are methods by which plastics can be broken back down to a feedstock state.
Products such as automobiles are now being designed to make recycling of their large plastic parts easier. To assist recycling of plastic disposable items, the Plastic Bottle Institute of the Society of the Plastics Industry devised the now-familiar scheme to mark plastic bottles by plastic type. A recyclable plastic container using this scheme is marked with a triangle with three "chasing arrows" inside of it, which enclose a number giving the plastic type: PETE, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PS, and OTHER (for more info see plastic packaging resins).
The first controversy arose in the late 1950s and early 1960s. There were a number of incidents where small children crawled into plastic bags used by launderers to cover clothing, and suffocated. The plastics industry managed to fend off trouble by launching a massive public-education campaign.
By the late 1960s, plastics were increasingly seen as a symbol of an outdated 1950s consumer culture. The term "plastic" became an insult, used to describe someone thought of as soulless. At the end of the 1960s, the Beatles would even sing of "Polyethylene Pam," a "go-getter" who would do anything to get ahead.
This was partly just a fashion statement, since plastics remained in widespread use anyway, and in many cases were much more effective and environmentally benign than alternative materials. However, this led to a problem as well, since the consumption of massive amounts of plastic goods led to a massive problem with litter and waste disposal.
Plastic was almost too good, as it was durable and degraded very slowly. In some cases, burning it could release toxic fumes. There was also the problem that manufacturing plastics often created large quantities of nasty chemical pollutants, and depleted the Earth's bounded supply of fossil fuels.
By the 1990s, plastic recycling programs were common in the United States and elsewhere. Thermoplastics can be re-melted and reused, and thermoset plastics can be ground up and used as filler, though the purity of the material tends to degrade with each reuse cycle. There are methods by which plastics can be broken back down to a feedstock state.
Products such as automobiles are now being designed to make recycling of their large plastic parts easier. To assist recycling of plastic disposable items, the Plastic Bottle Institute of the Society of the Plastics Industry devised the now-familiar scheme to mark plastic bottles by plastic type. A recyclable plastic container using this scheme is marked with a triangle with three "chasing arrows" inside of it, which enclose a number giving the plastic type: PETE, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, PS, and OTHER (for more info see plastic packaging resins).
Unfortunately, recycling plastics proved difficult. The biggest problem with plastic recycling is that it is difficult to automate the sorting of plastic waste, and so it is labor-intensive. While containers are usually made from a single type and color of plastic, making them relatively easy to sort out, a consumer toy like a cellular phone may be made of many small parts consisting of over a dozen different types and colors of plastics. As the value of the material is low, recycling plastics is unprofitable. For this reason, the percentage of plastics recycled in the US is very small, somewhere around 5%.
Research has been done on "biodegradable" plastics that break down with exposure to sunlight. Starch can be mixed with plastic to allow it to degrade more easily, but it still doesn't lead to complete breakdown of the plastic. Some researchers have actually genetically engineered bacteria that synthesize a completely biodegradable plastic, but this material is expensive at present.
So far, these plastics have proven too costly and limited for general use, and critics have pointed out that the only real problem they address is roadside litter, which is regarded as a secondary issue. When such plastic materials are dumped into landfills, they can become "mummified" and persist for decades even if they are supposed to be biodegradable.
There have been some success stories. The Courtald concern, the original producer ofrayon, came up with a revised process for the material in the mid-1980s to produce "tencel." Tencel has much superior properties to rayon, but is still produced from "biomass" feedstock, and its manufacture is extraordinarily clean by the standards of plastic production. Whether the use of plastics can be made completely consistent with environmental quality demands, still remains to be seen.
Research has been done on "biodegradable" plastics that break down with exposure to sunlight. Starch can be mixed with plastic to allow it to degrade more easily, but it still doesn't lead to complete breakdown of the plastic. Some researchers have actually genetically engineered bacteria that synthesize a completely biodegradable plastic, but this material is expensive at present.
So far, these plastics have proven too costly and limited for general use, and critics have pointed out that the only real problem they address is roadside litter, which is regarded as a secondary issue. When such plastic materials are dumped into landfills, they can become "mummified" and persist for decades even if they are supposed to be biodegradable.
There have been some success stories. The Courtald concern, the original producer ofrayon, came up with a revised process for the material in the mid-1980s to produce "tencel." Tencel has much superior properties to rayon, but is still produced from "biomass" feedstock, and its manufacture is extraordinarily clean by the standards of plastic production. Whether the use of plastics can be made completely consistent with environmental quality demands, still remains to be seen.
Name for the first synthetic plastic material, developed in 1869. Made of a colloid of cellulose nitrate (nitrocellulose) plasticized with camphor, it is tough, cheap to produce, and resistant to water, oils, and dilute acids. It found a great variety of uses in combs, films, toys, and many other mass-produced consumer goods. Though it has been replaced in many uses by nonflammable synthetic polymers (originally cellulose acetate and Bakelite, then a host of others), it is still manufactured and used.
What Is Celluloid?
By: Laura Evans
Have you ever seen an old silent movie where a character was wearing a dickie, or false shirt front, that ended up rolling up and slapping him in the face? What material was used to make those dickies? Celluloid.
What is Celluloid?
Celluloid is an early plastic that was easy to mold and shape and is generally awarded the honor of being the first thermoplastic.
Celluloid is an early plastic that was easy to mold and shape and is generally awarded the honor of being the first thermoplastic.
Celluloid history and information
While English inventor Alexander Parkes and English Doctor Daniel Spill worked with variations of celluloid between 1856 and 1874, it was American brothers John and Isaiah Hyatt who patented a method of covering billiard balls in 1869 and later named the material celluloid. Billiard balls were made from expensive ivory up until that time. Both Parkes and Spill had tried to manufacture their material in a cost-effective manner and had been unsuccessful.
While English inventor Alexander Parkes and English Doctor Daniel Spill worked with variations of celluloid between 1856 and 1874, it was American brothers John and Isaiah Hyatt who patented a method of covering billiard balls in 1869 and later named the material celluloid. Billiard balls were made from expensive ivory up until that time. Both Parkes and Spill had tried to manufacture their material in a cost-effective manner and had been unsuccessful.
Spill took the Hyatts to court in a series of law suits that started in 1877. After seven years fighting in court, a judge decreed Parkes to be the inventor of the celluloid process, but let everyone continue to manufacture the product. However, the Hyatts retained the name celluloid as a trademark for their company, the Celluloid Manufacturing Company, in New Jersey.
Celluloid products - celluloid jewelry and more
Celluloid was made into a variety of products that are now considered to be collectible. These products include billiard balls, bracelets, brooches, toys, buttons, hair combs and match safes. You might find celluloid made into handles for scissors or eating utensils. Wedding albums, postcard albums and boxes were made out of celluloid, all beautifully decorated. Dolls and toys were made out of celluloid. Celluloid was an important component in photographs and early film.
The demise of celluloid
Celluloid was used for products into the first half of the 20th century. There were definite problems associated with celluloid. For example, for a while, celluloid was made into false teeth. But celluloid had a tendency to get soft when exposed to heat, making not only wearing celluloid teeth a concern, but eating hot foods an issue as well. Celluloid also had a reputation of being rather flammable. There are stories of celluloid billiard balls blowing up after hitting each other. Early films made with celluloid are a nightmare for film preservationists today because of the material's tendency to decompose over time.
Celluloid was used for products into the first half of the 20th century. There were definite problems associated with celluloid. For example, for a while, celluloid was made into false teeth. But celluloid had a tendency to get soft when exposed to heat, making not only wearing celluloid teeth a concern, but eating hot foods an issue as well. Celluloid also had a reputation of being rather flammable. There are stories of celluloid billiard balls blowing up after hitting each other. Early films made with celluloid are a nightmare for film preservationists today because of the material's tendency to decompose over time.
Celluloid today
Today, ping pong balls are made from celluloid. An Italian company, OMAS, uses treated celluloid to make fine, high-end pens.
Today, ping pong balls are made from celluloid. An Italian company, OMAS, uses treated celluloid to make fine, high-end pens.
If you think that you have a piece that is made from celluloid, dip it into hot water for a minute. If you have a celluloid piece, the piece will give off the odor of camphor, one of its ingredients.
Celluloid: The First Plastic
Museum: American History Museum
This case examines celluloid, the world's first commercially successful plastic, which was invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1869. Initially made to imitate natural materials, celluloid was mainly used to manufacture inexpensive yet stylish goods -- ranging from beauty accessories and housewares to postcards and advertising keepsakes -- proving that inexpensive but durable products could be made from plastic. Though celluloid was no longer a popular material by the 1940s, it remains the primary material for Ping-Pong balls.
Celluloid dolls were child playthings created from cheap synthetic plastic from the mid 1800s until the 1940s. They were produced as an unbreakable alternative to the extremely fragile China, wax, and bisque dolls. Kewpies, baby dolls, and French high fashion Colette dolls were all made of celluloid. Mass produced throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States, these inexpensive dolls became very popular. Today it is rare to find celluloid dolls in excellent condition, which makes them a valuable antique and collector's item.
Some of the earliest celluloid dolls were made by the Rheinische Gummi and Celluloid Fabrik Co. in Mannheim, Germany. The company's first dolls had cloth bodies with celluloid heads, arms, and legs. These dolls were the most delicate, and those that still exist are very valuable. In the early 1900s, celluloid was improved upon, and companies began making the dolls completely from celluloid. Many had limbs that could be moved and eyes that opened and shut.
In the 1940s, the United States banned the use of celluloid for toys because it was found to be highly flammable. Celluloid was still used, however, in many European countries, and some dolls were still being manufactured in Eastern Europe into the 1990s. British companies also created a cellulose acetate doll that was safer and less flammable.
The dolls were not very durable and would deteriorate when exposed to humidity or moisture. They would often crack in high humidity and would yellow as they aged. Dolls also dented and broke quite easily.
For these reasons, many celluloid dolls did not survive the test of time, although they can still be found. Aspiring doll collectors can usually locate these dolls at a reasonable price. Rarer dolls in very fine condition can be much more expensive.
Vintage celluloid dolls need special care. They should be kept away from direct sunlight and should be stored or displayed in an area with low moisture. Cleaning these dolls is nearly impossible because they cannot come in contact with water. Dolls that have become damaged are difficult to repair, and this also greatly decreases their value
Side Effects of Cellulose Gum
Cellulose gum is a popular substance due to its ability to help thicken, stabilize and emulsify a product. Cellulose gum is farmed from trees and cotton and is therefore readily renewable, abundant and cheap. In "Twinkie, Deconstructed," author Steve Ettlinger notes that cellulose gum will absorb 15 to 20 times its starting weight when combined with water. It's also able to help stabilize products such as dough and cake, improving overall shelf life. Furthermore, cellulose gum is great in mixing two substances together that may not mix well together by themselves; this is particularly crucial in beverages and gels.
FunctionCellulose gum is a substance commonly found in many household products, from certain foods to hair gels and laxatives. Cellulose gum is a key ingredient that helps maintain certain characteristics such as stabilizing a dough product, providing thickness to a gel or helping to keep two liquids mixed together. Most importantly, cellulose gum has been shown to be safe in all of its applications.
Side Effects
- Cellulose gum does not have any known side effects. According to Zooscape.com, the human body is not able to break down cellulose gum and, therefore, it passes through the digestive system providing no nutritional value. In this case, it also passes through the digestive system providing no negative side effects to the body.
Safety
- Because cellulose gum passes through the human's digestive system intact and provides no negative side effects, it can be considered completely safe. One of the testaments to the safety aspect of cellulose gum is its increasingly popular use as an ingredient in foods and beverages. It is able to provide necessary characteristics to many foods and beverages without harming the body.
Food Uses
- Cellulose gum is used in a variety of industries and applications. According to Danisco.com, cellulose gum is used mostly in the food and beverage industry in applications such as frozen dough, juices, concentrated beverages, dressings, soups, ice cream, processed cheeses, fruit preparation and emulsified meat products.
Non-Food Uses
- According to "Staying Healthy With Nutrition" by Elson M. Haas, cellulose gum and it's derivatives like methyl cellulose are used in other industries not related to food and beverages. Cellulose gum is used in cosmetic products such as hair gel, shaving cream, shampoos and beauty masks, and in some medicines such as laxatives and antacids.
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