INTRODUCTION :

Cellulose is nature's own giant molecule. It is the fibrous material that every
plant from seaweed to the sequoia makes by baking glucose molecules in long
chains; the chains are bound together in the fibers that give plants their shape
and strength. Wood now has become the main source of cellulose. Since it
contains only 40% to 50% cellulose, the substance must be extracted by
"pulping'. The logs are flaked, and then simmered in chemicals that dissolve the
tarry lignin, resins and minerals. The remaining pulp, about 93% cellulose, is
dried and rolled into sheets as raw material for paper, rayon and other products.

Rayon is a synthetic fiber produced from cellulose. This natural base gives it
many of the characteristics- low cost, diversity and comfort that have led to its
popularity and success.

Regardless of the manufacturing process rayon has only a single source of raw
material, natural cellulose. The major sources of natural cellulose are wood pulp
usually obtained from pine, spruce, or hemlock trees.

It can be obtained by two commercially viable methods:

1. Viscose process:

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 In this process cellulose is soaked in 30% caustic soda solution for about
3 hours. The alkali solution is then removed and the product is treated
with CSi. This gives cellulose xanthates, which are dissolved in NaOH
solution to give a viscous solution. This is filtered and forced through a
spinneret into a dilute solution of H2SO4, both of which harden to form
gum-like thread into rayon-like fibers. This process of making viscose was
found by C.F Cross and E.J Bevan in 1891.

2. Cuprammonium rayon:

In this process cuprammonium rayon is obtained by dissolving pieces of

filter paper in a deep blue solution containing tetra-ammine cupric
hydroxide. The latter is obtained from a solution of copper sulfate. To it
,ammonium hydroxide solution is added to precipitate cupric hydroxide,
which is then dissolved in excess of NH4 Filter paper is a quantitative
paper used for filtering and made of pure cellulose treated with
hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid. This filter paper is used as a source for
preparing rayon thread using cuprammonium process .

HISTORY :

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For centuries humankind has relied upon various plants and animals to provide
the raw materials for fabrics and clothing. Silkworms, sheep,beaver, buffalo
deer, and even palm leaves are just some of the natural resources that have
been used to meet these needs. However, in the last century scientists have
turned to chemistry and technology to create and enhance many of the fabrics
we now take for granted.

There are two main categories of man-made fibers: those that are made from
natural products and those that are synthesized solely from chemical
compounds. Rayon is a synthetic fiber produced from cellulose. This natural
base gives it many of the characteristics- low cost, diversity and comfort that
have led to its popularity and success. Developed in an attempt to produce silk
chemically, it was originally called artificial silk or wool silk. Today, rayon is
considered to be one of the most versatile and economical man-made fibers
available. It has been called "the laboratory's first gift to the loom".

Schweizer, in 1857, published the first paper dealing with the discovery that an
ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide would dissolve cellulose. This solution is
commonly known in the literature as Schweitzer's reagent, E. A. Parnefl, in
"Life and Labors of John Mercer", states: "Mercer appears to have been the first
to notice the remarkable action which the ammoniacal solution of cupric oxide
exerts on cotton fiber". The solubility of cellulose in cuprammonium was first
utilized by the Bereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken A. G. of Elberfeld, for the
production of rayon. This was one of the earliest methods of producing rayon.

In the 1860's the French silk industry was being threatened by a disease
affecting the silkworm. Louis Pasteur and Count Hilaire de Chardonnet were
studying this problem with the hope of saving this vital industry. During this
crisis, Chardonnet became interested in the production of artificial silk. In 1885
he patented the first successful process to produce a useable fiber from
cellulose. Even though other scientists have subsequently developed more cost
effective ways of making artificial silk. Chardonnet is still considered as the
father of rayon.

For the next 40 years this was called artificial or imitation silk. By 1925 it
had developed into an industry onto itself and was given the name rayon by the
federal trade commission. The term rayon at this time was used to indicate any

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man made fiber made from cellulose at this time.

Today rayon is one of the most widely used fabrics in our society. It is made in
countries across the world. It can be blended with natural or man made fabrics,
treated with enhancements and also made to perform a variety of functions.

THEORY :
Of all the fibers, rayon is probably the most perplexing to consumers. It can be
found in cotton like end uses, as well as sumptuous velvets and taffetas. It may
function successfully in absorbent and in well absorbent hygiene and
incontinence pads and equally well providing strength in tire condos.
Rayon was the first manufactured fiber. The term rayon was officially adopted
by the textile industry. Unlike most manmade fibers, rayon is not synthetic .It is
made from wood pulp, a naturally occurring , cellulose based raw material. As a
result, rayon properties are more similar to those of natural cellulose fibers,
such as cotton or linen, than those of thermoplastic, petroleum based synthetic
fibers, such as nylon or polyester.

Although rayon is made from wood pulp, a relatively inexpensive and renewable
resource, processing requires high water and energy use, and has contributed to
air and water pollution. Modernization of manufacturing plants and availability
of raw material has increased rayon's competitiveness in the market.

PROPERTIES:

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Viscose rayon has a silk like aesthetic with superb drape and feel and retains its
rich and brilliant colors. Its cellulosic base contributes to many properties
similar to those of cotton or other natural cellulosic fibers. Rayon is a moisture
absorbent, breathable, comfortable to wear, and easily died in vivid colors. It
does not build up static electricity, nor will it pill unless the fabric is made from
short, low-twist yarns.

Regular rayon has lengthwise lines called striations and its cross-section is an
indented circular shape. The cross-sections of HWM and cupra rayon are
rounder. Filament rayon yarns vary from 80 to 980 filaments per yarn and vary
in size from 40 to 5000 denier. Staple fibers range from 1.5 to 15 denier and are
mechanically or chemically crimped. Rayon fibers are naturally very bright, but
the addition of delustering pigments cuts down on this natural brightness.

Rayon is comfortable, soft to skin and has moderate dry strength and abrasion
resistance. Like other cellulosic fibers, it is not resilient, which means that it will
wrinkle with ease. Rayon withstands ironing temperatures slightly less than that
of coton. It may be attacked by silverfish or termites, but generally resist insect
damage.

One of rayon's strengths is its versatility and ability to blend easily with many
fibers, sometimes to reduce cost, other times for luster, softness, or absorbency
and resulting comfort.

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Rayon has moderate resistance to acids and alkalis and generally the fiber itself
is not damaged by bleaches; however dyes used in the fabric may experience
color change. As a cellulosic fiber rayon will burn but flame retardant finishes
may be applied.

High wet modulus rayon (HWM) is a modified version of viscose that is

stronger when wet. It also has the ability to be mercerized like cotton. HWM
rayons are also known as "polynosic." Polynosic fibers are dimensionally stable,
and do not shrink or get pulled out of shape when wet like many rayons. They
are also wear resistant and strong while maintaining a soft, silky feel. They are
sometimes identified by the trade name Modal.

High-tenacity rayon is another modified version of viscose that has almost

twice
the strength of HWM. This type of rayon is typically used for industrial
purposes such as tire cord.

FIBRE PROPERTIES OVERVIEW:

● Rayon as cloth is soft and comfortable. it drapes well, which is one of the
reasons it is so desirable as an apparel fabric.

● It is the most absorbent of all cellulose fibers, even more so than cotton
and linen. Because of this , rayon absorbs perspiration and allows it to
evaporate away from the skin, making it an excellent summer fabric.

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 ● It loses a great deal of strength when wet. Because of this, it stretches
and shrinks more than cotton.

● Poor due to inelasticity of the fibers. It is easily damaged by scraping and

will pile on the surface of the cloth.

● Because of its excessive flammability, it inspired the flammable fabrics

act. The FFA was enacted by the U.S.department of commerce in1953 in
response to public concern over a number of serious burn accidents
involving brushed rayon high pile sweaters and children cowboy chaps
which could easily catch fire and flash burn.

● No static build up.

TYPES OF RAYON FIBERS:

Joyce Smith in her paper on rayon for Ohio State University Extension, identifies
4 major types of modifications of Rayon. These are:

● Regular or (Viscose) Rayon

● HWM- High Wet Modulus Rayon "Modal' rayon
● High Tenacity Rayon mainly industrial uses - like cords and in tires
● Cuprammonium Rayon.

PRODUCTION METHOD:

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Regular rayon (or viscose) is the most widely produced form of rayon. This
method of rayon production has been used since the early 1900s and it has the
ability to produce either filament or staple fibers. The process is as follows:

The steps involved in commercial manufacture of rayon in industries can be

summarized broadly into the following:

1. Cellulose:

Production begins with processed cellulose (obtained from wood pulp and plant
fibers). The cellulose content in the pulp should be around 87% to 97%.

2. Immersion:

The cellulose is dissolved in caustic soda:

(C6H10O5)n+ nNaOH →(C6H9O4ONa)n + nH20

is the chemical reaction. The reaction converts cellulose to alkali cellulose and
removes impurities.

3. Pressing:

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The solution is then pressed between rollers to remove excess liquid. The
Pressing is done in accordance with the press-weight ratio. Press weight ratio is
the ratio between the pressed alkali cellulose sheet weight to the weight of air
dried pulp. It is adjusted to 2.7-3.

4. "White Crumb":

The pressed sheets are crumbled or shredded to produce what is known as

"white crumb."

5. Aging :

The "white crumb" is aged through exposure to oxygen. This is a

depolymerization step and is avoided in case of polynosics.

6. "Xanthation":

The aged "white crumb" is mixed with carbon disulfide in a process known as
"Xanthation," in which the aged alkali cellulose crumbs are placed in vats and
are allowed to react with carbon disulfide under controlled temperature (20 to
30 °C) to form cellulose xanthate.

7. "Orange-Yellow Crumb":

The Xanthation changes the chemical makeup of the cellulose mixture,

and the resulting product is now called "yellow crumb." This orange
coloration is due to the formation of sodium trithiocarbonate (Na:CS;).

8. Viscose:

The "yellow crumb" is dissolved in a caustic solution to form viscose.

9. Ripening:

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The viscose is set to stand for a period of time, allowing it to ripen:

[C6H9O40 - SC - SNa]n + nH20 → (C6H10O5)n + nCS2 + nNaOH

is the reaction.

10. Filtering:

After ripening, the viscose is filtered to remove any undissolved particles.

11. Degassing:

Any bubbles of air are pressed from the viscose in a degassing process.

12. Extruding :

The viscous solution is extruded through a spinneret, which resembles a shower

head with many small holes.

13. Acid Bath :

As the viscose exits the spinneret, it lands in a bath of sulfuric acid,resulting in

the formation of rayon filaments. The acid is used as a regenerating agent. It
converts cellulose xanthate back to cellulose. The regeneration step is rapid
which doesn't allow proper orientation of cellulose molecules. So to delay the
process of regeneration, zinc
sulfate is used in the bath which converts cellulose xanthate to zinc cellulose
xanthate thus providing time for proper orientation to take place before
regeneration.

14. Spinning :

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The spinning of viscose rayon fiber is done using a wet spinning process. The
filaments are allowed to pass through a coagulation bath after extrusion from
the spinneret holes. Two-way mass transfer takes place.

15. Drawing :

The rayon filaments are stretched, in a procedure known as drawing, to

straighten out the fibers.

16.Washing :

The fibers are then washed to remove any residual chemicals from them.

17. Cutting :

If filament fibers are desired, then the process ends here. The filaments
cut down when producing staple fibers.

APPLICATIONS OF RAYON FIBERS:

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 ● Rayon typically has an elevated luster quality giving it a brilliant gloss

● Mainly, Rayon fibers are used in apparel industry such as Aloha shirts,
blouses, dresses, Jackets, Lingerie, scarves, suits, ties, hats and socks.

● Some rayon fibers are for filling in Zippo lighters, furnishings including
bedspreads, bedsheets, blankets, window covers, upholstery and
slipcovers.

● For industrial purposes such as medical surgery products, non-woven

items, tire cord and some other uses like diapers, towels, feminine
hygiene products.

EXPERIMENT:

AIM:
The main objective of the project is to prepare rayon thread from the
cuprammonium process. Instead of using wood pulp as the cellulose source, an
attempt is made to make use of raw cellulose products such as filter paper.

REQUIREMENTS:

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Beakers, conical flasks, filtration flasks, vacuum pump, bent tube, glass rod,
50% ammonia solution, dil. NaOH solution, dil. H2SO4, filter paper, or waste
paper.

CHEMICAL REACTIONS INVOLVED:

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Dilute NaOH solution is added to a copper sulfate solution to form a precipitate
of Cu(OH);.

CuSO4+ 2NaOH → Cu(OH)2. Na2SO4

The precipitate is transferred into a beaker containing liquor ammonia resulting

in the formation of a deep blue solution of cuprammonium hydroxide.

Cu(OH)2 +4NH2OH → [Cu(NH3)4](OH)2 + 4H20

Dissolving filter paper in cuprammonium hydroxide solution leave out a viscous

solution called viscose.

PROCEDURE:

The cellulose is dissolved in cuprammonium hydroxide [Cu(NH3)4](OH)2 and

The procedure to be followed is given below.

1. To prepare cuprammonium hydroxide solution:

Weigh about 20.0 g of crystalline copper sulfate

in a clean watch glass. Dissolve it in 100 ml of water taken in a beaker. Add
dilute NaOH solution to this solution slowly with stirring and note the separation
of precipitate of Cu(OH)2. Filter the precipitate on a water pump and wash the
precipitate thoroughly with water so that a portion of filtrate does not indicate
presence of sulfate ions on testing with BaCl solution. Now transfer the
precipitate to a 250 ml beaker and add 50 ml of liquor ammonia. The precipitate
will dissolve resulting in a deep blue solution of cuprammonium hydroxide
(Schweitzer's solution). This is the solvent for dissolving cellulose.

2. Dissolving the cellulose matter:

Weigh about 1 gof ordinary filter paper and cut it into

small pieces. Add these pieces to the cuprammonium solution taken in a
conical flask. Close the flask with a rubber stopper and allow it to stand for 3-4

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days. In this time, filter paper completely dissolves leaving a viscous solution
called viscose.

3. Formation of rayon filament:

The viscous solution is taken in a syringe. Then the

nozzle of the syringe is dipped in a 5M H,SO0 solution taken in a wide mouthed
beaker. Squeeze out the viscous into the acid solution and at the same time
keep on moving the nozzle in the acid. Long filaments of rayon will be formed in
the beaker. The acid bath is left undisturbed for 24 hours, until the blue the
color of the rayon filament changes to white. Rayon filaments are then removed
from the acid bath, washed with water and dried by keeping them on filter paper.
When the threads are completely dried, weigh them and determine the
maximum length of the fiber formed.

IMAGES :

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RESULTS :

Thus we successfully prepare rayon thread using filter papers.

The results show here that the rayon threads thus formed are
used only for the sole purpose of sampling.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Addition of excess liquor of ammonia should be avoided.

2. Before taking the viscose into the syringe, make sure that it
doesn't have any pieces of paper otherwise the bits of paper tend
to clog the needle of the syringe.
3. Addition of liquor ammonia should be performed in a fume
cupboard with extra care otherwise the fumes if inhaled cause
heavy giddiness.
4. Prefer using a thick needle otherwise the fibers wont come out
with
preferred thickness and quality

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 CONCLUSION
The cuprammonium method of producing rayon is a
convenient method to produce rayon threads. Rayon, being the
most commonly used thread in the embroidery industry, is
relatively inexpensive and has a beautiful sheen. The answer is
because rayon is weak and not colourfast. It is not the
recommended quality fiber for quilting or embroidery. Because
rayon is manufactured from naturally occurring polymers, it is
considered a semi-synthetic fiber. Specific rayon includes
viscose, modal and lyocell, each of which differs in
manufacturing process and the properties of finished products.

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18
 CONTENTS

S.NO TOPICS PAGE NO

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. HISTORY 2

3. THEORY 4

4. PROPERTIES AND FIBRE PROPERTIES 4-6

OVERVIEW

5. TYPES OF RAYON 7

6. PRODUCTION METHOD 7

7. APPLICATIONS OF RAYON 11

8. EXPERIMENT 12
AIM 12
REQUIRED 13
CHEMICAL REACTIONS INVOLVED 14
PROCEDURE 14
IMAGES 16
RESULT 17
PRECAUTIONS 17

9. CONCLUSIONS 18

10. BIBLIOGRAPHY 19

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.https://en.wikipcdia.org/wiki/Rayon

2. https://www.slideshare.net

3. https://www.icbse.com/projecis

4. https://thechemistryguru.com

5.https://cbseportal.com/Projects/Download-CBSE-Class-XII-Che
mistry

6. https://www.academia.edu

7. http://www.allprojectreports.com

8. https://en.wikipedia.org

9. https://simple.wikipedia.org

10.https:/www.britannica.com/technology

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