Casein fibreIn 1938, the first U.S. patent was issued for casein fibre (No. 2,140,274). Earl Ovando Whittier and Stephen Philip Gould of Washington, D.C. had first produced casein fibre in December 1935. They dedicated the patent "to the free use of the people of the United States of America." Casein is the main protein found in milk. Their invention was to produce dispersions of casein (mixed usually with plasticizers and salts), to be extruded into fibres having the requisite characteristics of strength, water resistance, flexibility, and softness necessary to make them suitable as substitutes for wool and other fibres. Some of the best plasticizers suggested were the fat acids to give the fibres flexibility, softness and water repellancy. Sodium aluminate improved the fibre's strength. |
