WORLD OF SCIENCE

Waipa Post, Volume 51, Issue 3694, 6 December 1935, Page 4

WORLD OF SCIENCE

IS SYNTHETIC WOOL A MENACE? MORE DANGER FROM ARTIFICIAL SILK. For some time attention lias been called to the wool substitutes that have come into use in Germany under the stress of the unhappy economic conditions that prevail in that country, and in fact, throughout the world. Whilst admitting that the so-called synthetic wool is merely a substitute to meet the times, the question has been raised whether it is likely to develop, either now or in the distant future, into something more than the inferior substitute that it is now admitted to be, and to become ultimately a serious competitor to the wool industry. Seeing that we in Australia are being forced more and more to rely upon wool as our major primary industry, this is a question of considerable importance, remarks S.W.P. in the Melbourne Age.

Accordingly I propose to give here some idea of what synthetic wool really is, and to make some comments, scientific and otherwise, on the possibilities of its future development. It will be advisable to approach the matter from a rather broad point of view, by first examining the chemical nature of the three chief textile materials—-cotton, silk, and wool. Chemically they are entirely different substances, nevertheless, in this case, they tend to overlap, so that it will be well to consider them in some detail and thus prepare the ground for the major point of this article.

HOW THEY DIFFER. Cotton is a vegetable product. It consists essentially of a chemical substance called cellulose, which, as it happens, takes the foremost position in this discussion. It is extremely plentiful and cheap, being the chief constituent in all plant material. The present natural form of collulose is cotton from the cotton tree, but it must be borne in mind that the same chemical can be obtained from unlimited plant sources. It contains three different elements, and no more; they are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Silk and wool are animal products. Chemically, they show certain important differences from one another, but they are alike in being composed of protein material containing the elements of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Wool, by the way, also contains sulphur. They are so different in nature from cotton that it is an utter impossibility to turn coton into either silk of wool. Moreover, the whole three substances are so complex that it is also impossible, but only from our present lack of knowledge, to synthesise any one of them from any given materials whatsoever. Let us look into this a little further. In order to synthesise, that is, produce by artificial means —a given natural substance, the scientist must first take its molecules to pieces—carefully noting from where each piece comes. Then he must learn the more difficult task of putting the parts all back into their right places again, without having any pieces left over. In this way he learns how to synthesise from simple, cheap materials or from the atoms themselves, various substances, which hitherto nature alone had been able to produce.

So far as cotton and silk and wool are concerned, the chemist has achieved some little success in taking their molecules to pieces, but, like the small boy with the watch, he has only a hazy idea of how to get the pieces together again.

NOT SYNTHETIC WOOL. From this it will be concluded that there is no such thing as a truly synthetic wool. Anything so called is merely a substitute, and need not of necessity have any chemical relation to wool whatsoever; accordingly, it is unlikely to possess all its virtues. That is exactly how the matter stands. Wool substitutes, such as the well advertised woolastra, have no right whatever to be called synthetic wool. They usually consist of a certain percentage of natural wool, blended or interwoven with that interesting modern material, artificial silk. The latter substance does not possess to the same degree the particular virtues which make wool so valuable —wearing quality, elasticity, warmth, power of absorbing water and so forth; so that it is not surprising to find that the mixed fabrics have no superior virtues; on the contrary, they lose shape, crease and wear badly.

At first sight, then, it would appear that these substitutes offer no real challenge to the wool industry. At the moment this is probably true, for there seems little to be feared in the mere development of the present mixtures. But that is' by no means the end of the story. A real, though not immediate, danger lies in the possible future developments of the artificial silk industry, with the production of a thread possessing better qualities and maybe entirely new properties. This is by no means out of the ques-

tion. From the point of view of future developments artificial silk has a peculiar advantage over all natural threads, for it is wholly artificial or man made; it is born and bred of science, and the sceintific thought and control that have gone to its manufacture, overcoming innumerable obstacles on the way, has by no means come to a dead end. In fact, no one would care to forecast the variations which may be introduced in the future.

UNDER ASSUMED NAME,

As everyone knows, artificial silk makes no pretence of being even a distant chemical relative of silk. It thrives under an assumed name; for it is nothing but cotton, and 100 per cent pure cotton at that —or better, 100 per cent cellulose. The raw material for its production is provided by any of the better forms of cellulose; for example, a very recent process aims at using the whole of the cotton plant, holus bolus. In the earlier days it was of poor quality; it curled and crinkled, dyed patchily, shrank and went to pieces at the slightest provocation. But now there is a different story to tell; the threads have been improved out of all knowledge; they are strong and beautiful, some are almost indistinguishable from silk in appearance; they can be produced of any length and any degree of fineness, and they possess good wearing qualities. Can anyone imagine that there the matter will be allowed to rest? Already hollow threads and others with a serrated edge are being made; but the two most coveted improvements arc an increase in tensile strength when wet, and an increase in that elusive quality, elastocity. There is no doubt that these are both receiving particular attention in Germany, but how soon and how far they will respond is at present a matter of conjecture. Elasticity, of fundamental importance in wool, here presents a problem of particular interest and importance, and I shall take the opportunity of dealing with it in a further article. All that can be said at present is that the production of a cellulose thread —may be compounded either before or after spinning—which has qualities capable of allowing it to compete with wool is by no means outside the realm of scientific possibilities. What one may question is the immediate probability of this development.