Jasper County Democrat, Volume 2, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1899 — MAKING ARTIFICIAL SILK. [ARTICLE]

MAKING ARTIFICIAL SILK.

They Have in a Measure Supplanted the Genuine Article in France. The production of artificial silk has for some time past attracted the attention of experimenters in France, and it has been used with success to replace natural silk - in certain fabrics. Duke Du Chardonnet, who claims to be the first to have successfully carried out the process, exhibited some fine specimens of artificial silk at the Paris exposition of 1889. Since then he has perfected his system and at the present time a factory, of considerable importance fas in operation at Besancon, under the direction of Mr. Trieano. This factory is now capable of producing 150 kilograms of artificial silk a day. Natural silk is largely made up of a body called “fibroin,” together with other substances, such as gelatin, albumen, wax, coloring matter, fatty and resinous matter, etc., the cellulose of the mulberry leaf being thus trausformeebby the silk worm. The nature of these transformations Is of course unknown, and In order to produce a substance resembling silk a method is adopted by which the cellulose furnished by cotton is used as a base. The cotton having been transformed Into nitrocellulose or guncotton by treating it with nitric and sulphuric acids, this latter is dissolved ip a mixture of ether

and alcohol and the resulting collodion is filtered under pressure. In order to be successfully used for the production of artificial silk It is found that the collodion must be allowed to “age” for a certain period of time, the reason of which has not been definitely settled; howevefr, it is certain that the collodion, on being allowed to stand, undergoes certain modifications by which it Is better fitted for the purpose. It is then run into cylinders which have capillary holes in the bottom, and the collodion is forced out of these holes under a pressure of 40 to 56 atmospheres. It comes out tn the form of white, cylindrical filaments; these are united to form threads, which are put up In skeins and all traces of alcohol or water which they may contain are removed. In this state, however, the threads are extremely inflammable, partaking of the nature of guncotton, and to remove this difficulty they must be “’denltrated,” that is to say, the cellulose must be brought back Into Its normal condition. This part of the process, v.'hich is indeed an essential’ one, Involves considerable difficulty and has been experimented upon for some time by M. Du Chardonnet and others. How’ever, a process has at last been arrived at which accomplishes this in a satisfactory manner. The details of this process have not as yet been made public, but It Is certain that by this operation white, silky threads are produced which are not appreciably more inflammable than natural silk. The skeins which have been made up of these threads are then dyed by Immersing them In a heated bath of basic aniline color.—Scientific American.