Just like many inventions in the history of science and technology are the result of accidental mistakes, the invention of the spinning machine is related to the invention of the electric light. The inventor of the spinning machine was named Swann, who was a collaborator of Edison who invented the electric light. Swann has devoted himself to the research of making electricity produce light since his youth. He and Edison invented the practical incandescent lamp at about the same time. Swann and Edison originally had a dispute over patent rights for their inventions, but they later settled the dispute outside the courts and collaborated to form a joint company in England.
We know that the filament in the earliest incandescent bulb invented was made of carbonized plant fiber. In the process of researching and improving lamp filaments, Swann invented a method of spinning, which can force the nitrocellulose mucus through many small holes to form strands of filaments, and then carbonize the filaments. As the filament of an incandescent light bulb. Unfortunately, the experimental research on using this nitrocellulose to make filaments failed to achieve the expected results. At this time, Swann, who had a wide range of interests and hobbies and was very knowledgeable, thought: Although the pulled filaments could not be used to make filaments, But wouldn't it be very meaningful if this kind of drawing machine was used as a spinning machine for rayon?
As a result, Swann applied for a patent for the spinning machine he invented. It was the earliest drawing machine for manufacturing man-made fibers and rayon. People still remember Swann’s role in this spinning machine. contributions in the field.
If Swann’s invention of a wire drawing device similar to the spider silk spinner was an unexpected result obtained while studying the subject of improving lamp filaments, then, coincidentally, the invention of the earliest man-made fiber was It is also an unexpected result.
That was in France. The chemist Pasteur accepted the commission from the French government to study the prevention and control methods of silkworm diseases that were harming the production of French silk industry at that time. A student named Chardonnay became Pasteur's assistant. The study of silkworms and the quality of their silk led Chardonnay to become interested in silk. Coincidentally, Chardonnay also liked to study photography. In the process of studying photographic films, Chardonnay accidentally discovered that when the glass rod mixed with nitrocellulose slime was pulled out of the slime, the thick and sticky nitrocellulose slime was stretched into long and thin threads. . Chardonnay twisted the silk with his hands and found that it felt very good and very similar to natural silk. A spark of invention suddenly flashed in his mind: If I use this nitrocellulose to pass through the small hole of the wire drawing machine, squeeze and pull it into many slender wires, can I get a large amount of rayon? Chardonnay tried it, and sure enough, he pulled out slender, shiny, and beautiful rayon.
It is said that Chardonnay exclaimed extremely excitedly at that time, "It's successful. This means that what silkworms can do, humans can also do."
Chardonnay will himself Patented his invention and opened a rayon factory in France. When the rayon produced there was exhibited at the Paris Exposition, it was praised by women.
The only drawback is that this kind of rayon is very afraid of fire. At a banquet, a woman wearing rayon clothing was enjoying herself in the envious eyes of everyone, but unexpectedly, a smoker's Sparks fell on her body, and her clothes suddenly burned violently. When people came to put out the fire, the woman was already dead.
The person who later actually invented synthetic silk fabrics that were close to spider silk was American Carothers. What he considered was: Chardonnay invented rayon made with the help of plant fibers, and what he wanted to invent was silk that did not rely on plant fibers but was artificially synthesized using chemical methods. In September 1938, the American DuPont Chemical Industries Company announced that they would sell a new product. The advertisement says: "Our company uses coal, air and water to make a kind of silk that is thinner than spider silk and stronger than steel."
This The seed silk is nylon 66 invented by Carothers. The first products made of nylon 66 were nylon stockings, which were indeed as thin as spider silk, as transparent as spider silk, and not expensive. Therefore, the company's first batch of 10,000 pairs of nylon stockings put on the market were sold out in only three days.
Nylon silk fabric is still a very popular chemical fiber.