Orlon Acrylic Fibers

Orlon, a synthetic acrylic fiber, was developed by E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) as an offshoot of their pioneering work on nylon and rayon. In 1941, a DuPont scientist seeking a means of improving rayon devised a method of spinning acrylic polymer. Originally dubbed "Fiber A", by 1950 the trade name Orlon was adopted for spun polyacrylonitrile fibers, a material derived from polymers synthesized with natural gas, oxygen, and nitrogen. DuPont hoped that Orlon would replace wool in the marketplace.