100 Years of Cellulose Fiber Finishing Research and Development in Switzerland

This paper contains a historical review of 100 years of basic and applied cellulose research in Switzerland and a discussion of recent, partly unpublished results concerning the crosslinking of cellulose fibers obtained in academic and industrial research laboratories in Switzerland. An investigation of the mechanism of catalysis of crosslinking by metal salts is reported. 1) History of Cellulose Research in Switzerland Cellulose research in Switzerland has always concentrated principally on cellulose fibers, particularly cotton fabrics. In addition, however, our present understanding of the concept of macromolecules in general and the submicroscopic arrangement of cellulose molecules in cell walls owes much to investigations made in Switzerland. The title of this paper "100 years of cellulose research and development in Switzerland" is not absolutely correct - strictly speaking it should be 99 years. The reason for this is that in 1877 Carl Nägeli and Simon Schwendener, two Swiss professors of botany published