Artificial Silk Made From Air (Feb, 1931)

Artificial Silk Made From Air

PROF. Harold Hibbert, of McGill University, Montreal, has completed successful experiments whereby he is able to spin out artificial silk from the atmosphere. The constitutents in the air with which he dealt were water and carbon dioxide. With this new method, artificial silk, cotton and paper can be manufactured without the use of the cotton plant or the spruce tree.

“It has long been known,” explains Prof. Hibbert, “that the plant forms sugar from the carbon dioxide and water in the atmosphere. The most difficult step of our experiment was in finding a method of converting the sugar and other natural plant products into the cellulose which is the principal ingredient of wood and paper, and the substance from which artificial silk is made. After years of experimenting, this step was brought about by adding a common bacterium to the sugar.

“Furthermore this discovery also means that it is now possible to take ordinary cane and other sugars and convert them into cellulose and make artificial silk, cotton and wood. The discovery of this process has been the subject of exhaustive study and research on my part for years.”

The industrial and commercial possibilities which are latent in these scientific findings remain immeasurable, Prof. Hibbert believes.