Viscose is a viscous organic liquid used to make rayon and cellophane. Cellulose from wood or cotton fibres is treated with sodium hydroxide, then mixed with carbon disulphide to form cellulose xanthate, which is dissolved in more sodium hydroxide. The resulting viscose is extruded through a slit to make cellophane, or through a spinneret to make viscose rayon (sometimes simply called viscose).
The process for manufacturing viscose was discovered by three British chemists, Charles Cross, Edward Bevan and Clayton Beadle, in 1891. Viscose is becoming less common because of the polluting effects of carbon disulphide and other by-products of the process.
