Cross, Charles Frederick

Cellulose was first discovered in 1819 by the French naturalist Henri Braconnot (1781-1855). The compound was first isolated and analyzed fifteen years later by the French botanist Anselme Payen (1795-1871), who gave it its modern name of cellulose based on its origin ( cell ) plus the suffix -ose. The earliest chemical studies of cellulose were conducted by a team of English chemists, Charles Frederick Cross (1855-1935), Edward John Bevan (1856-1921), and Clayton Beadle (1868-1917), who identified the compound we now know as cellulose and reported on its structure and properties in the 1890s and early 1900s. 

I890s-early 1900s British chemists Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan, and Clayton Beadle identify the compound now known as cellulose. They also develop rayon. 

The Viscose method mentioned earlier was finally worked out in 1894 by English chemists Charles Frederick Cross, Edward John Bevan, and Clayton Beadle. This method was a commercial success, and the fabric was manufactured first by Courtaulds Fibers in the United Kingdom and then Avtex Fibers in the United States. 

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