Cellulose Acetate

Cellulose acetate is a synthetic material made by treating cellulose, typically from wood pulp or cotton, with acetic anhydride to form an acetate ester, producing a plastic that can be spun into fiber or cast into film. Swiss chemist Paul Schutzenberger first prepared cellulose acetate in 1865, and Swiss brothers Camille and Henri Dreyfus developed practical commercial production methods in the early twentieth century, founding companies that manufactured it as a synthetic textile fiber and as a safety film base for the growing motion-picture industry. Cellulose acetate later became familiar as the material used in most cigarette filters and many eyeglass frames.