Nitrocellulose (also:
cellulose nitrate,
flash paper,
flash cotton,
guncotton,
flash string) is a highly flammable compound formed by
nitrating cellulose through exposure to
nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a
propellant or
low-order explosive, it was originally known as
guncotton. Partially nitrated cellulose has found uses as a plastic film and in inks and wood coatings. In 1862 the first man-made plastic, nitrocellulose, (branded
Parkesine) was created by
Alexander Parkes from cellulose treated with nitric acid and a solvent. In 1868, American inventor
John Wesley Hyatt developed a plastic material he named
Celluloid, improving on Parkes' invention by plasticizing the nitrocellulose with
camphor so that it could be processed into finished form and used as a
photographic film. Celluloid was used by
Kodak, and other suppliers, from the late 1880s as a
film base in photography, X-ray films, and motion picture films, and was known as 'nitrate film'. After numerous fires caused by unstable nitrate films,
safety film (
cellulose acetate film) started to be used from the 1930s in the case of X-ray stock and from 1948 for motion picture film.
