Cellulose-based biomaterials, derived from wood and cotton, have shaped our world in remarkable ways. From the first manmade plastics and photographic films to today’s versatile textiles, packaging, and electronic applications, this timeline highlights their fascinating history of innovation.
Christian Friedrich Schönbein discovery began with a famous accident in his wife’s kitchen, when he used her cotton apron to wipe up spilled nitric and sulfuric acid and it quickly disintegrated.
This led him to identify and develop guncotton or smokeless powder. More modern forms of nitrocellulose are still used in ammunition and propellants.
Combining camphor and nitrocellulose John Wesley Hyatt patented the first commercial plastic. Originally created as a billiard ball substitute, celluloid mimicked ivory and tortoiseshell, making stylish goods affordable to the middle class. However, its flammability and instability ultimately led to its decline.
By the early 1880s, Eastman Kodak had become the dominant company in the photographic industry through its dry-plate process. It made a further technological leap by commercializing the use celluloid roll film in 1888, as an alternative to bulky, difficult-to-handle glass plates. The following year, the company introduced perforated roll film, ushering in the era of moving pictures.
Hilaire de Chardonnet, a civil engineer and student of Louis Pasteur, patented a cotton-based nitrocellulose fibre and presented it at the 1889 Paris Exposition. In 1891 his Besançon factory began producing “Chardonnet silk,” the first commercial synthetic fibre. He named it rayon to evoke the shimmer of sunlight, but its flammability limited success. The name endured and was later applied to safer viscose fibres made from wood pulp.
Charles F. Cross, Edward J. Bevan, and Clayton Beadle discovered that only highly purified cellulose could be chemically dissolved and regenerated, leading to the identification of high alpha-cellulose. This breakthrough prompted manufacturers to produce dissolving pulp, a purified form of cellulose derived from wood or cotton linters that could be manufactured at scale, to supply the emerging viscose, cellophane, and acetate industries.
Arthur Eichengrün and Theodore Becker patented a method for producing cellulose acetate, a safer nonflammable alternative to nitrocellulose.
Developed by Cross, Bevan, and Beadle in 1891, viscose rayon entered large-scale production at Courtaulds (UK) in 1905, becoming the most widely used form of rayon.
Swiss chemist Jacques Brandenberger invented the first transparent packaging film from wood-based cellulose, making cellophane an early bioplastic. Commercialized in France, it became a dominant packaging material before oil-based plastics. It remains in niche uses like confectionery wraps and breathable food packaging.
Camille and Henri Dreyfus, brothers and Swiss chemists, developed the first commercial process for cellulose acetate film and fibres. Founders of British Celanese, they transformed acetate into coatings, moulded goods, and textiles, replacing flammable celluloid in photography and motion pictures.
Marketed as “artificial silk,” viscose rayon became a popular fabric for fashion and household textiles, offering the look and feel of silk at lower cost and reaching mass consumers worldwide.
Developed as a bundle of fine cellulose acetate fibres, acetate tow became the standard for cigarette filters and remains the largest global use of cellulose acetate, later expanding into specialty filtration and wicking applications.
Widely adopted in foods, pharmaceuticals, paints, detergents, dry mixes, and drilling fluids, these versatile cellulose derivatives became an essential part of modern industry. As demand for processed foods, advanced medicines, and new construction materials soared, cellulose ethers embedded themselves in global supply chains, shaping products people rely on every day.
O.A. Battista and P.A Smith discover microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), a refined form of cellulose which was commercialized in food and pharma applications by FMC Corporation in the early 1960s. Unlike ethers, MCC retains its crystalline structure making it insoluble in water, a useful quality in certain end uses.
In 1972, a team at American Enka (Akzo) created a new regenerated fibre process using dissolving wood pulp and a safer solvent system. Commercialized in the 1990s by Courtaulds and Lenzing, Lyocell became valued for sustainable, strong, and soft textiles.
In 2003, global demand for viscose rayon began an amazing recovery after decades of losing market share to cheaper synthetic fibres. With rising incomes, especially in emerging markets, and concerns over the environmental impact of oil-based fibres, as well as the land and water needed to grow cotton, consumers began to increasingly turn to viscose as a natural alternative. Since then, global viscose production has increased three-fold and is set to continue to outpace overall fibre production for the foreseeable future.
Building on work by researchers at ITT Rayonier in the 1970s, the bio-materials industry has made major advances in the area of nanocellulose. Made from cellulose fibres at a nano scale, these biodegradable materials - most commonly in the form of microfibrilated cellulose (MFC), also referred to as cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), and cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) - are comprised of much smaller crystals than MCC, providing greater mechanical strength and better barrier properties against gases and moisture in, for example, food packaging and biomedical applications.
Founded in Geneva in 2011 by Christian Chavassieu, CelCo became the only consultancy dedicated to cellulose-based biomaterials, earning recognition for its deep expertise and trusted analysis. In 2025, CelCo partnered with Numera Analytics to strengthen its offering with advanced data and market insights.
Today, cellulose stands at the heart of multiple industries including textiles, packaging, chemicals, energy and advanced biomaterials. Its unique combination of abundance, renewability and performance is bringing it to center stage, and CelCo plays a pivotal role in demystifying this vital industry.