In 1838,[1] he discovered that treating successively wood with nitric acid and an alkaline solution yielded a major insoluble residue that he called "cellulose", while dissolved incrustants were later called "lignin" by Frank Schulze.
After treating different woods with nitric acid he obtained a fibrous substance common to all which he also found in cotton and other plants.
[3] Anselme Payen Award RecipientsThe Anselme Payen Award, which includes a medal and an honorarium given by the American Chemical Society's Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division, to honor and encourage "outstanding professional contributions to the science and chemical technology of cellulose and its allied products".
These documents are individually ranked by a panel of nine judges who are appointed by the current Chair-Elect and are unknown to each other.
After the awardee accepts, the Chair of the Awards Committee announces the winner at the next Spring ACS meeting.