n.
Name for the first synthetic plastic material, developed in 1869.
Made of a colloid of cellulose nitrate (nitrocellulose) plasticized with camphor , it is tough, cheap to produce, and resistant to water, oils, and dilute acids. It found a great variety of uses in combs, films, toys, and many other mass-produced consumer goods. Though it has been replaced in many uses by nonflammable synthetic polymers (originally cellulose acetate and Bakelite, then a host of others), it is still manufactured and used.