Rayon is a generic word for fibers developed from cellulose. The first patent for synthetic fibers was granted in 1855 to a Swiss chemist, George Audemars. In 1880 Sir Joseph Swan, an English chemist succeeded in using nitrocellulose to produce fibers. Although these two men started the cellulose-based fiber industry, it is Count Louis Comte de Chardonnet who accelerated its production.

Rayon is produced from nitrocellulose, a substance that, due to its nitro groups, is highly flammable. Rayon was often denitrated with a nitric acid bath. Unfortunately, this process weakened the fibers. Chardonnet used an acid sulfide solution to denitrate the fibers and preserve their strength, which is comparable to that of silk.

A twist on the production of rayon was introduced in 1897 by Hermann Pauly, who dissolved cellulose with an ammoniacal solution of copper hydroxide. The rayon produced this way is called cuprammonium rayon, Pauly silk, or Bemberg rayon...