French chemist Paul Vieille then followed the findings of Schönbein in 1882–1884 and, after much trial and error, succeeded in transforming guncotton into a colloidal substance by gelatinizing it in an alcohol-ether mixture which he then stabilized with amyl alcohol.
He then used roller presses to transform this gelatinized colloidal substance into extremely thin sheets which, after drying, were cut up into small flakes.
The latter was stabilized with the antioxidant diphenylamine instead of amyl alcohol, and it gave safe and regular performance as the standard French gunpowder used during World War I (1914–1918).
[4] Three times more powerful than black powder for the same weight, and not generating large quantities of smoke, Poudre B gave the user a huge tactical advantage.
[citation needed] Prior to its introduction, a squad of soldiers firing volleys would be unable to see their targets after a few shots, while their own location would be obvious because of the cloud of smoke hanging over them.
"[5] The earliest "Poudre B" tended to eventually become unstable, which has been attributed to evaporation of the volatile solvents, but may also have been due to the difficulty in fully removing the acids used to make guncotton.