The Textile Fibers Department of the DuPont Company was established in 1936 (known then as the Rayon Department), which specialized in researching and developing synthetic fibers for fabrics such as Rayon, Nylon, Teflon, Corian, and Kevlar. In 1952, the department was renamed to reflect the wider range of fibers being produced and renamed the Fibers Department in 1988.

As early as 1909, the DuPont Company began exploring opportunities to diversify its product line beyond the manufacture of explosives. The company was particularly interested in alternative uses for cellulosic products and the potential to develop a synthetic fiber industry in the United States. Following World War I, the company’s Development Department commissioned studies of existing processes for producing artificial silk and selected the viscose process as the most promising avenue for research.

In 1920, negotiations with the French cartel Comptoir des Textiles Artificiels led to establishing a joint venture known as the DuPont Fibersilk Company to manufacture viscose rayon. The first plant at Buffalo, New York, went into production in 1921. In 1925, as the generic term rayon gained currency within the industry, the name changed to the DuPont Rayon Company.

In 1923, after purchasing the domestic rights to the cellophane manufacturing process from the French firm La Cellophane, S.A., DuPont entered into a second joint venture known as the DuPont Cellophane Company. The DuPont Rayon Company purchased rights to the cellulose acetate process from Usines du Rhone and the rayon process from Societe Rhodiaceta and established the Acetate Process Department in 1928.

DuPont bought out the French interests in the DuPont Rayon Company and the DuPont Cellophane Company in 1928. In 1936 these companies were merged into the parent company and reorganized as the Rayon Department. This new department consisted of three divisions representing the major product lines: Acetate, Cellophane, and Rayon. The former Technical Department, which included research sections for each fiber product, was reconstituted as a division of the Rayon Department. A polymer research program directed by Wallace H. Carothers (1896-1937), which the Chemical Department had launched in 1928, also became part of the Rayon Department in 1936. By 1938, this program had evolved into the Nylon Division. In 1950, the newly created Film Department absorbed the functions of the Cellophane Division.

The Viscose Rayon Research Section was originally organized in 1935 and continued as a unit of the Technical Division following the creation of the Rayon Department in 1936. Research groups worked with viscose rayon at Buffalo as early as 1921, but the program accelerated with the construction of laboratory facilities in 1928. Most of these research facilities were transferred to the Spruance Plant at Richmond, Virginia, in 1940. The Rayon Research Laboratory was closed at the end of 1957. The Pioneering Research Section was organized as part of the Technical Department in 1935 to continue the work of the Special Problems Group, established a decade earlier. Under the direction of William Hale Charch (1898-1958), this section was charged with conducting fundamental research intended to establish new scientific facts without regard to immediate commercial exploitation. Following the initial development stage, projects transferred to the research sections were responsible for developing commercially viable products.

Although domestic consumption of rayon peaked in 1950, DuPont management decided that the capital investment and technical effort required to continue the development of its fully synthetic fibers made it necessary to scale back production of rayon and acetate. During the 1950s, the company’s rayon plants were converted to other uses, and production ceased altogether in 1963.

On January 1, 1952, in recognition of the overwhelming commercial success of nylon and the enormous potential of Dacron polyester fiber and Orlon acrylic fiber, the Rayon Department renamed the Textile Fibers Department. As part of this reorganization, the responsibility for each fiber product was divided along functional lines between manufacturing and sales divisions. Titles changed from sales to marketing in 1960. The research sections, formerly administered by the Technical Division, were established as separate divisions. The Pioneering Research Laboratory moved from Buffalo, New York, to the Experimental Station at Wilmington, Delaware. The department was renamed the Fibers Department in 1988 and DuPont Fibers in 1990.