Cellophane: Difference between revisions
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Cellophane is also used in transparent [[pressure-sensitive tape]], tubing, and many other similar applications. | Cellophane is also used in transparent [[pressure-sensitive tape]], tubing, and many other similar applications. | ||
Cellophane is compostable and biodegradable, and can be obtained from biomaterials.<ref name=" | Cellophane is compostable and biodegradable, and can be obtained from biomaterials.<ref name="Morris-2017">{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Barry A. |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323242738000046 |title=The Science and Technology of Flexible Packaging: Multilayer Films from Resin and Process to End Use |chapter=Commonly Used Resins and Substrates in Flexible Packaging |volume=Plastics Design Library |editor-last=William |editor-first=Andrew |page=4.3.5 Cellophane |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-323-24273-8 |doi=10.1016/C2013-0-00506-3 |s2cid=251206014 |accessdate=2021-05-05 |quote=Cellophane is biosourced, compostable, and biodegradable. }}</ref> The original production process uses [[carbon disulfide]] (CS<sub>2</sub>), which has been found to be highly toxic to workers.<ref name=Blanc>{{cite news |last1=Swan |first1=Norman |last2=Blanc |first2=Paul |title=The health burden of viscose rayon |url=http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/healthreport/the-health-burden-of-viscose-rayon/8286870 |work=ABC Radio National |date=20 February 2017 |language=en}}</ref> The newer [[lyocell]] process can be used to produce cellulose film without involving carbon disulfide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1606|accessdate=2022-07-02|title=Cellulose Sausage Skins via the Lyocell Process|date=2002-08-27|publisher=AZO Materials}}</ref> | ||
"Cellophane" is a [[generic term]] in some countries,<ref name="gc">{{cite web |url= https://www.genericides.org/trademark/cellophane |title= Has cellophane become a generic trademark? |access-date= 29 April 2021 |website= genericides.org |archive-date= 30 April 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210430161329/https://www.genericides.org/trademark/cellophane |url-status= dead }}</ref> while in other countries it is a [[registered trademark]] owned by DuPont.<ref name="gc"/> | "Cellophane" is a [[generic term]] in some countries,<ref name="gc">{{cite web |url= https://www.genericides.org/trademark/cellophane |title= Has cellophane become a generic trademark? |access-date= 29 April 2021 |website= genericides.org |archive-date= 30 April 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210430161329/https://www.genericides.org/trademark/cellophane |url-status= dead }}</ref> while in other countries it is a [[registered trademark]] owned by DuPont.<ref name="gc"/> | ||
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A similar process is used to make [[rayon | rayon fibre]], wherein the viscose solution is extruded through a [[Spinneret (polymers)|spinneret]], to form cellulose ''filaments'', rather than a slit, which forms cellulose ''film''. | A similar process is used to make [[rayon | rayon fibre]], wherein the viscose solution is extruded through a [[Spinneret (polymers)|spinneret]], to form cellulose ''filaments'', rather than a slit, which forms cellulose ''film''. | ||
Cellophane - like (filamentous) viscose, rayon and cellulose - is a [[polymer]] of [[glucose]] | Cellophane - like (filamentous) viscose, rayon and cellulose - is a [[polymer]] of [[glucose]], insofar as cellophane is structurally different to [[Monomer|monomeric]] glucose, while its chemical composition is the same. | ||
==History== | ==History== | ||
[[File:Xanthation.png|thumb|center|520px|Simplified view of the [[xanthation]] of cellulose.<ref name=Ull>{{Ullmann |first1=Hans | last1=Krässig | first2=Josef | last2=Schurz | first3=Robert G. | last3=Steadman | first4=Karl | last4=Schliefer | first5= Wilhelm |last5=Albrecht|first6=Marc | last6=Mohring | first7=Harald | last7=Schlosser | title=Cellulose | year=2002 | doi=10.1002/14356007.a05_375.pub2}}</ref>]] | [[File:Xanthation.png|thumb|center|520px|Simplified view of the [[xanthation]] of cellulose.<ref name=Ull>{{Ullmann |first1=Hans | last1=Krässig | first2=Josef | last2=Schurz | first3=Robert G. | last3=Steadman | first4=Karl | last4=Schliefer | first5= Wilhelm |last5=Albrecht|first6=Marc | last6=Mohring | first7=Harald | last7=Schlosser | title=Cellulose | year=2002 | doi=10.1002/14356007.a05_375.pub2}}</ref>]] | ||
Cellophane was invented by Swiss chemist [[Jacques E. Brandenberger]] in 1908,<ref>{{cite web |title=Jacques E. Brandenberger |url=https://www.invent.org/inductees/jacques-e-brandenberger |publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame |access-date=2025-06-29}}</ref> while employed by ''Blanchisserie et Teinturerie de Thaon''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carraher |first= Charles E. (Jr.) |date=2014 |title=Carraher's Polymer Chemistry: Ninth Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXo0AAAAQBAJ&q=Carraher+Jacques+E.+Brandenberger&pg=PA301 |location=Boca Raton Fl. |publisher=CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group |page=301 |isbn=978-1-4665-5203-6 }}</ref> Inspired by the [[hydrophobic effect]] of a restaurant tablecloth when wine was spilled on it, | Cellophane was invented by Swiss chemist [[Jacques E. Brandenberger]] in 1908,<ref>{{cite web |title=Jacques E. Brandenberger |url=https://www.invent.org/inductees/jacques-e-brandenberger |publisher=National Inventors Hall of Fame |access-date=2025-06-29}}</ref> while employed by ''Blanchisserie et Teinturerie de Thaon''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carraher |first= Charles E. (Jr.) |date=2014 |title=Carraher's Polymer Chemistry: Ninth Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXo0AAAAQBAJ&q=Carraher+Jacques+E.+Brandenberger&pg=PA301 |location=Boca Raton Fl. |publisher=CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group |page=301 |isbn=978-1-4665-5203-6 }}</ref> Inspired by the [[hydrophobic effect]] of a restaurant tablecloth when wine was spilled on it, Brandenberger aimed to create a material which could repel liquids rather than absorb them. His initial attempt to produce such a material involved spraying a waterproof coating onto [[viscose]] cloth. The resulting coated fabric was too stiff, but after drying, the [[wikt:diaphanous|diaphanous]] cellulose coating could be separated easily from the backing cloth as a flexible and unbroken sheet. Recognising the possibilities of that incidental formation of a structurally-sound transparent material, Brandenberger abandoned his original method. | ||
It took ten years for Brandenberger to perfect his film. His chief improvement of his original cellophane-like film was to add glycerin to soften the material. By 1912, he had constructed a machine to manufacture the film, named "Cellophane"—a [[blend word|portmanteau]] of ''cellulose'' and ''diaphane'' ("transparent"). The product film, Cellophane, was patented that year.<ref>Carlisle, Rodney (2004). ''Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries'', p.338. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey. {{ISBN|0-471-24410-4}}.</ref> The following year, Comptoir des Textiles Artificiels (CTA) bought Thaon firm's interest in Cellophane and Brandenberger in a new company, La Cellophane SA.<ref name="hounshell170">{{cite book | last = Hounshell | first = David A. | author2 = John Kenly Smith | title = Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont R&D, 1902–1980 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1988 | page = [https://archive.org/details/sciencecorporate0008houn/page/170 170] | isbn = 0-521-32767-9 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/sciencecorporate0008houn/page/170 }}</ref> | It took ten years for Brandenberger to perfect his film. His chief improvement of his original cellophane-like film was to add glycerin to soften the material. By 1912, he had constructed a machine to manufacture the film, named "Cellophane"—a [[blend word|portmanteau]] of ''cellulose'' and ''diaphane'' ("transparent"). The product film, Cellophane, was patented that year.<ref>Carlisle, Rodney (2004). ''Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries'', p.338. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey. {{ISBN|0-471-24410-4}}.</ref> The following year, Comptoir des Textiles Artificiels (CTA) bought Thaon firm's interest in Cellophane and Brandenberger in a new company, La Cellophane SA.<ref name="hounshell170">{{cite book | last = Hounshell | first = David A. | author2 = John Kenly Smith | title = Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont R&D, 1902–1980 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1988 | page = [https://archive.org/details/sciencecorporate0008houn/page/170 170] | isbn = 0-521-32767-9 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/sciencecorporate0008houn/page/170 }}</ref> | ||
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[[File:Dupont-baby-bag-advert (8080777436).jpg|thumb|upright|1953 DuPont advert for cellophane]] | [[File:Dupont-baby-bag-advert (8080777436).jpg|thumb|upright|1953 DuPont advert for cellophane]] | ||
In the United States, [[Whitman's]] began using cellophane for its [[Whitman's Sampler]] [[candy]] wrapping in 1912. Whitman's remained the largest user of imported cellophane from France until nearly 1924, when [[DuPont]] built the first cellophane manufacturing plant in the | In the United States, [[Whitman's]] began using cellophane for its [[Whitman's Sampler]] [[candy]] wrapping in 1912. Whitman's remained the largest user of imported cellophane from France until nearly 1924, when [[DuPont]] built the first cellophane manufacturing plant in the United States. Cellophane saw limited sales in the U.S. at first because, although it was waterproof, it was not moisture-proof; it held or repelled water but was permeable to water vapor. That meant it was unsuitable for packaging products that required moisture-proofing. DuPont hired chemist [[William Hale Charch]] (1898–1958), who spent three years developing a [[nitrocellulose]] lacquer that, when applied to Cellophane, made it moisture-proof.<ref>{{cite book | last = Winkler | first = John K. | title = The Dupont Dynasty | publisher = Waverly Press, Inc | year = 1935 | location = Baltimore, MD | page = 271 }}</ref> Following the introduction of moisture-proof Cellophane in 1927, sales tripled between 1928 and 1930 and, in 1938, Cellophane accounted for 10% of DuPont's sales and 25% of its profits.<ref name="hounshell170" /> | ||
Cellophane played a crucial role in developing the self-service retailing of fresh meat.<ref name="hisano" /> Cellophane's transparency helped customers know quality of meat before buying. Cellophane also worked to consumers' disadvantage when manufacturers learned to manipulate the appearance of a product by controlling oxygen and moisture levels to prevent discolouration of food.<ref name="hisano">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/17-106_cc97c076-3685-4e40-80b8-9de7342b0aac.pdf|title=Cellophane, the New Visuality, and the Creation of Self-Service Food Retailing|last=Hisano|first=Ai|website=Harvard Business School}}</ref> It was considered such a useful invention that cellophane was listed alongside other modern marvels in the 1934 song "[[You're the Top]]" (from ''[[Anything Goes]]'').<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s-LwzeIcboQC&dq=%22You%27re+the+Top%22+cellophane&pg=PA47|title=Plastics|first=Norman H.|last=Finkelstein|date=17 August 2008|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=9780761426004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdwlKhVudMkC&dq=%22You%27re+the+Top%22+cellophane&pg=PA115|title=How Engineers Create the World: The Public Radio Commentaries of Bill Hammack|first=William S.|last=Hammack|date=6 September 2011|publisher=Bill Hammack|isbn=9780983966104 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSucDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22You%27re+the+Top%22+cellophane&pg=PT140|title=The Next Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy|first=Tim|last=Harford|date=28 May 2020|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=9781408712641 }}</ref> | Cellophane played a crucial role in developing the self-service retailing of fresh meat.<ref name="hisano" /> Cellophane's transparency helped customers know the quality of meat before buying. Cellophane also worked to consumers' disadvantage when manufacturers learned to manipulate the appearance of a product by controlling oxygen and moisture levels to prevent discolouration of food.<ref name="hisano">{{Cite web|url=https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/17-106_cc97c076-3685-4e40-80b8-9de7342b0aac.pdf|title=Cellophane, the New Visuality, and the Creation of Self-Service Food Retailing|last=Hisano|first=Ai|website=Harvard Business School}}</ref> It was considered such a useful invention that cellophane was listed alongside other modern marvels in the 1934 song "[[You're the Top]]" (from ''[[Anything Goes]]'').<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s-LwzeIcboQC&dq=%22You%27re+the+Top%22+cellophane&pg=PA47|title=Plastics|first=Norman H.|last=Finkelstein|date=17 August 2008|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=9780761426004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DdwlKhVudMkC&dq=%22You%27re+the+Top%22+cellophane&pg=PA115|title=How Engineers Create the World: The Public Radio Commentaries of Bill Hammack|first=William S.|last=Hammack|date=6 September 2011|publisher=Bill Hammack|isbn=9780983966104 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eSucDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22You%27re+the+Top%22+cellophane&pg=PT140|title=The Next Fifty Things that Made the Modern Economy|first=Tim|last=Harford|date=28 May 2020|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=9781408712641 }}</ref> | ||
The British textile company [[Courtaulds]], diversified its operations in 1930 to include production of a viscose film named "Viscacelle". However, competition with the commercially successful Cellophane hindered sales of Viscacelle.That resulted in the founding of [[British Cellophane|British Cellophane Limited]] (BCL) in 1935, in conjunction with the Cellophane Company and its French parent company CTA.<ref>{{cite book | last = Davenport-Hines | first = Richard Peter Treadwell | title = Enterprise, Management, and Innovation in British Business, 1914-80 | publisher = Routledge | year = 1988 | page = 61 | isbn = 0-7146-3348-8}}</ref> BCL established a major production facility at [[Bridgwater]], [[Somerset]], between 1935 and 1937, which employed 3,000 workers. Other cellophane production plants were opened at [[Cornwall, Ontario]] (BCL Canada), as an adjunct to the existing Courtaulds viscose rayon plant, and from which it bought the viscose solution, and at [[Barrow-in-Furness]], Cumbria. The latter two plants were closed in the | The British textile company [[Courtaulds]], diversified its operations in 1930 to include production of a viscose film named "Viscacelle". However, competition with the commercially successful Cellophane hindered sales of Viscacelle.That resulted in the founding of [[British Cellophane|British Cellophane Limited]] (BCL) in 1935, in conjunction with the Cellophane Company and its French parent company CTA.<ref>{{cite book | last = Davenport-Hines | first = Richard Peter Treadwell | title = Enterprise, Management, and Innovation in British Business, 1914-80 | publisher = Routledge | year = 1988 | page = 61 | isbn = 0-7146-3348-8}}</ref> BCL established a major production facility at [[Bridgwater]], [[Somerset]], between 1935 and 1937, which employed 3,000 workers. Other cellophane production plants were opened at [[Cornwall, Ontario]] (BCL Canada), as an adjunct to the existing Courtaulds viscose rayon plant, and from which it bought the viscose solution, and at [[Barrow-in-Furness]], Cumbria. The latter two plants were closed in the 1990's.{{cn|date=June 2025}} | ||
==Today== | ==Today== | ||
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Cellulose film has been manufactured continuously since the mid-1930s and is still used today. As well as packaging a variety of food items, there are also industrial applications, such as a base for such [[Pressure sensitive tape|self-adhesive tapes]] as [[Sellotape]] and [[Scotch Tape]], a [[semipermeable|semi-permeable membrane]] in some alkaline manganese dioxide [[Electric battery|batteries]],<ref>David Linden; Thomas B. Reddy (1995) Handbook of Batteries 3d ed. p. 250 ISBN 0-07-135978-8</ref> as [[dialysis tubing]] (Visking tubing), and as a release agent in the manufacture of [[fibreglass]] and [[rubber]] products. Cellophane is the most popular material for manufacturing [[cigar]] packaging; its permeability to water vapor makes cellophane a good product for this application as cigars must be allowed to "breathe" while wrapped and in storage. | Cellulose film has been manufactured continuously since the mid-1930s and is still used today. As well as packaging a variety of food items, there are also industrial applications, such as a base for such [[Pressure sensitive tape|self-adhesive tapes]] as [[Sellotape]] and [[Scotch Tape]], a [[semipermeable|semi-permeable membrane]] in some alkaline manganese dioxide [[Electric battery|batteries]],<ref>David Linden; Thomas B. Reddy (1995) Handbook of Batteries 3d ed. p. 250 ISBN 0-07-135978-8</ref> as [[dialysis tubing]] (Visking tubing), and as a release agent in the manufacture of [[fibreglass]] and [[rubber]] products. Cellophane is the most popular material for manufacturing [[cigar]] packaging; its permeability to water vapor makes cellophane a good product for this application as cigars must be allowed to "breathe" while wrapped and in storage. | ||
Cellophane sales have dwindled since the 1960s, due to alternative packaging options. The [[rayon#manufacturing health hazards|polluting effects]] of [[carbon disulfide]] and other by-products of the process used to make viscose may have also contributed{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} to its falling behind lower cost petrochemical-based films such as [[biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate]] (BoPET) and [[Polypropylene#Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)|biaxially oriented polypropylene]] (BOPP) in the 1980s and 1990s. However, as of 2017, it has made something of a resurgence in recent times due to its being biosourced, compostable, and biodegradable. Its sustainability record is clouded by its energy-intensive manufacturing process and the potential negative impact of some of the chemicals used, but significant progress in recent years has been made by leading manufacturers in reducing their environmental footprint.<ref name=" | Cellophane sales have dwindled since the 1960s, due to alternative packaging options. The [[rayon#manufacturing health hazards|polluting effects]] of [[carbon disulfide]] and other by-products of the process used to make viscose may have also contributed{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} to its falling behind lower cost petrochemical-based films such as [[biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate]] (BoPET) and [[Polypropylene#Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP)|biaxially oriented polypropylene]] (BOPP) in the 1980s and 1990s. However, as of 2017, it has made something of a resurgence in recent times due to its being biosourced, compostable, and biodegradable. Its sustainability record is clouded by its energy-intensive manufacturing process and the potential negative impact of some of the chemicals used, but significant progress in recent years has been made by leading manufacturers in reducing their environmental footprint.<ref name="Morris-2017"/> | ||
==Material properties== | ==Material properties== | ||
When placed between two [[Plane polarized light|plane polarizing]] filters, cellophane produces prismatic colours, due to its [[birefringent]] properties. This effect is often used to create stained glass-like effects in kinetic and interactive artworks. | When placed between two [[Plane polarized light|plane polarizing]] filters, cellophane produces prismatic colours, due to its [[birefringent]] properties. This effect is often used to create stained glass-like effects in kinetic and interactive artworks. | ||
While cellophane is biodegradable, carbon disulfide—used in most cellophane production—is highly toxic. Viscose factories vary widely in the amount of [[Rayon#Carbon disulfide toxicity|CS<sub>2</sub> they expose their workers to]], and most give no information about their quantitative safety limits or how well they keep to them.<ref name=Blanc/><ref name="scientificamerican.com">{{cite journal|url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bamboo-boom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319015204/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bamboo-boom|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 March 2011|title=Bamboo Boom: Is This Material for You?|author=Michelle Nijhuis|journal=Scientific American|date=June 2009 |doi=10.1038/scientificamericanearth0609-60 |doi-broken-date= | While cellophane is biodegradable, carbon disulfide—used in most cellophane production—is highly toxic. Viscose factories vary widely in the amount of [[Rayon#Carbon disulfide toxicity|CS<sub>2</sub> they expose their workers to]], and most give no information about their quantitative safety limits or how well they keep to them.<ref name=Blanc/><ref name="scientificamerican.com">{{cite journal|url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bamboo-boom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319015204/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bamboo-boom|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 March 2011|title=Bamboo Boom: Is This Material for You?|author=Michelle Nijhuis|journal=Scientific American|date=June 2009 |doi=10.1038/scientificamericanearth0609-60 |doi-broken-date=11 July 2025 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> | ||
==Branding== | ==Branding== | ||
In the UK and in many other countries, "Cellophane" is a registered trademark and the property of [[Futamura Chemical UK Ltd]], based in [[Wigton]], [[Cumbria]], | In the UK and in many other countries, "Cellophane" is a registered trademark and the property of [[Futamura Chemical UK Ltd]], based in [[Wigton]], [[Cumbria]], England.<ref>{{Cite web| title =Trade mark number UK00905352786| publisher =Intellectual Property Office| url =https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00905352786| url-status =live| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20230708231245/https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00905352786| archive-date =8 July 2023|access-date=9 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.futamuragroup.com/en/divisions/cellulose-films/products/|title=Compostable and renewable flexible packaging films|website=Futamura|date=2 March 2018 |access-date=9 July 2023|url-status=live|archive-date=29 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329103019/http://www.futamuragroup.com/en/divisions/cellulose-films/products/}}</ref> In the USA and some other countries "cellophane" has become [[genericized trademark|genericized]], and is often used informally to refer to a wide variety of [[plastic]] film products—even those not made of cellulose—such as [[polyvinyl chloride|PVC]]-based [[plastic wrap]]. Due to this genericization, the more scientifically specific term "cellulose film" is increasingly favored in the industry and in material science to accurately distinguish the original regenerated cellulose product from petrochemical plastics.{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}} | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Latest revision as of 09:04, 14 November 2025
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "other uses". Template:Use dmy dates
Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coated with nitrocellulose lacquer to prevent this.
Cellophane is also used in transparent pressure-sensitive tape, tubing, and many other similar applications.
Cellophane is compostable and biodegradable, and can be obtained from biomaterials.[1] The original production process uses carbon disulfide (CS2), which has been found to be highly toxic to workers.[2] The newer lyocell process can be used to produce cellulose film without involving carbon disulfide.[3]
"Cellophane" is a generic term in some countries,[4] while in other countries it is a registered trademark owned by DuPont.[4]
Production
Cellulose is produced from wood, cotton, hemp, and other organic fibres, dissolved in alkali and carbon disulfide to make a solution of liquid viscose. The solution is then extruded through a slit into a bath of dilute sulfuric acid and sodium sulfate to reconvert the viscose into a cellulose film. The film is then passed through a further series of baths; one to remove sulfur, one to bleach the film, and one to add softening materials, such as glycerin, to prevent the film from becoming brittle.
A similar process is used to make rayon fibre, wherein the viscose solution is extruded through a spinneret, to form cellulose filaments, rather than a slit, which forms cellulose film.
Cellophane - like (filamentous) viscose, rayon and cellulose - is a polymer of glucose, insofar as cellophane is structurally different to monomeric glucose, while its chemical composition is the same.
History
Cellophane was invented by Swiss chemist Jacques E. Brandenberger in 1908,[6] while employed by Blanchisserie et Teinturerie de Thaon.[7] Inspired by the hydrophobic effect of a restaurant tablecloth when wine was spilled on it, Brandenberger aimed to create a material which could repel liquids rather than absorb them. His initial attempt to produce such a material involved spraying a waterproof coating onto viscose cloth. The resulting coated fabric was too stiff, but after drying, the diaphanous cellulose coating could be separated easily from the backing cloth as a flexible and unbroken sheet. Recognising the possibilities of that incidental formation of a structurally-sound transparent material, Brandenberger abandoned his original method.
It took ten years for Brandenberger to perfect his film. His chief improvement of his original cellophane-like film was to add glycerin to soften the material. By 1912, he had constructed a machine to manufacture the film, named "Cellophane"—a portmanteau of cellulose and diaphane ("transparent"). The product film, Cellophane, was patented that year.[8] The following year, Comptoir des Textiles Artificiels (CTA) bought Thaon firm's interest in Cellophane and Brandenberger in a new company, La Cellophane SA.[9]
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In the United States, Whitman's began using cellophane for its Whitman's Sampler candy wrapping in 1912. Whitman's remained the largest user of imported cellophane from France until nearly 1924, when DuPont built the first cellophane manufacturing plant in the United States. Cellophane saw limited sales in the U.S. at first because, although it was waterproof, it was not moisture-proof; it held or repelled water but was permeable to water vapor. That meant it was unsuitable for packaging products that required moisture-proofing. DuPont hired chemist William Hale Charch (1898–1958), who spent three years developing a nitrocellulose lacquer that, when applied to Cellophane, made it moisture-proof.[10] Following the introduction of moisture-proof Cellophane in 1927, sales tripled between 1928 and 1930 and, in 1938, Cellophane accounted for 10% of DuPont's sales and 25% of its profits.[9]
Cellophane played a crucial role in developing the self-service retailing of fresh meat.[11] Cellophane's transparency helped customers know the quality of meat before buying. Cellophane also worked to consumers' disadvantage when manufacturers learned to manipulate the appearance of a product by controlling oxygen and moisture levels to prevent discolouration of food.[11] It was considered such a useful invention that cellophane was listed alongside other modern marvels in the 1934 song "You're the Top" (from Anything Goes).[12][13][14]
The British textile company Courtaulds, diversified its operations in 1930 to include production of a viscose film named "Viscacelle". However, competition with the commercially successful Cellophane hindered sales of Viscacelle.That resulted in the founding of British Cellophane Limited (BCL) in 1935, in conjunction with the Cellophane Company and its French parent company CTA.[15] BCL established a major production facility at Bridgwater, Somerset, between 1935 and 1937, which employed 3,000 workers. Other cellophane production plants were opened at Cornwall, Ontario (BCL Canada), as an adjunct to the existing Courtaulds viscose rayon plant, and from which it bought the viscose solution, and at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. The latter two plants were closed in the 1990's.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Today
Cellulose film has been manufactured continuously since the mid-1930s and is still used today. As well as packaging a variety of food items, there are also industrial applications, such as a base for such self-adhesive tapes as Sellotape and Scotch Tape, a semi-permeable membrane in some alkaline manganese dioxide batteries,[16] as dialysis tubing (Visking tubing), and as a release agent in the manufacture of fibreglass and rubber products. Cellophane is the most popular material for manufacturing cigar packaging; its permeability to water vapor makes cellophane a good product for this application as cigars must be allowed to "breathe" while wrapped and in storage.
Cellophane sales have dwindled since the 1960s, due to alternative packaging options. The polluting effects of carbon disulfide and other by-products of the process used to make viscose may have also contributedScript error: No such module "Unsubst". to its falling behind lower cost petrochemical-based films such as biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BoPET) and biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) in the 1980s and 1990s. However, as of 2017, it has made something of a resurgence in recent times due to its being biosourced, compostable, and biodegradable. Its sustainability record is clouded by its energy-intensive manufacturing process and the potential negative impact of some of the chemicals used, but significant progress in recent years has been made by leading manufacturers in reducing their environmental footprint.[1]
Material properties
When placed between two plane polarizing filters, cellophane produces prismatic colours, due to its birefringent properties. This effect is often used to create stained glass-like effects in kinetic and interactive artworks.
While cellophane is biodegradable, carbon disulfide—used in most cellophane production—is highly toxic. Viscose factories vary widely in the amount of CS2 they expose their workers to, and most give no information about their quantitative safety limits or how well they keep to them.[2][17]
Branding
In the UK and in many other countries, "Cellophane" is a registered trademark and the property of Futamura Chemical UK Ltd, based in Wigton, Cumbria, England.[18][19] In the USA and some other countries "cellophane" has become genericized, and is often used informally to refer to a wide variety of plastic film products—even those not made of cellulose—such as PVC-based plastic wrap. Due to this genericization, the more scientifically specific term "cellulose film" is increasingly favored in the industry and in material science to accurately distinguish the original regenerated cellulose product from petrochemical plastics.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
See also
References
Further reading
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External links
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- ↑ Template:Ullmann
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- ↑ Carlisle, Rodney (2004). Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries, p.338. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey. Template:ISBN.
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- ↑ David Linden; Thomas B. Reddy (1995) Handbook of Batteries 3d ed. p. 250 ISBN 0-07-135978-8
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