The History of Plastics

1. The History of Plastics To accompany video

2. Timeline

3. Definition • Plastic is broadly defined as • Any inherently formless material that can be molded or modeled under heat or pressure

4. As early as… • Go back as far as the Old Testament • References of: • Fillers • Adhesives • Coatings

5. Good Ol’ Enoch Noyes • 1760 • Opened business with the use of natural polymers • Made combs out of organic proteins (Keratin and Albuminiod) derived from animal horns, hoofs, an tortoise shells

6. In the beginning… • Greek word plastikos • First natural plastics • Tortoise shell • Tree resins • Shellac • Insect secretion

7. Christian Schoenbine • Swiss Chemist • 1840’s • Developed Cellulose nitrate • Mix of cotton, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid

8. Rubber’s Helping Hand • Charles Goodyear's discovery of the Vulcanization process for natural rubber in 1839. • In 1851, the rubber industry discovered ebonite, or hard rubber • The first thermosetting material to be involved in a chemical modification of natural material

9. Ebonite bracelet from 1880

10. Parkes Invents First Man-Made Plastic • The first man-made plastic was unveiled by Alexander Parkes at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. • Parkesine- organic material derived from cellulose that could be molded in heat and retain its shaped when cooled • Buttons • Combs • Pens

11. Alexander Parkes- 1855 • Rights sold to Daniel Spill (1865) • Patented • Downfall- high cost of the raw materials needed in its production.

12. John Wesley Hyatt • Billiard Co. in U.S. • Needed substitute for ivory in making balls • John Wesley Hyatt developed collodion • Upon spilling a bottle of collodion in his workshop, he discovered that the material congealed into a tough, flexible film • Camphor and cellulose nitrate • Explosion upon impact Formed the American Celluloid Company which is today the Plastics Division of the Celanese Corporation

13. Bakelite • Dr. Leo Baekeland • First totally synthetic plastic (1907) • Patented in 1909 • Thermoset resin • Replaced rubber for insulation in electrics

14. Bakelite • Phenol-formaldehyde resins which he called Bakelite.

15. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) • PVC was first created by the German chemist Eugen Baumann in 1872. • Patented in 1913 • Waldo L. Semon, invented a way to make polyvinyl chloride (PVC) useful

16. PVC Cloth brushes from England in 1950

17. Polymerization • In 1920, German Hermann Staudinger published theories on polyaddition • Nine year later published the polymerization of polystyrene. 1950’s Uncle Sam moneybox, from England (Polystyrene)

18. Polystyrene • Dow Chemical brought polystyrene to the U.S. in 1937 Toy shark, in Polystyrene, withmoving jaw, Made in USA around 1950 Polystyrene up close

19. Dr. Wallace H. Carothers • 1930’s research on polymer chains at DuPont Chemical Department • Published theory of polycondensation • Invented Neoprene and Nylon

20. World War II • Nylon • Ropes, tent and parachute straps, belts, etc • Teflon • Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) • Dupont Chemical Department • First used for artillery shell covers

21. World War II • Polyethylene (1933) • Imperial Chemical Industries in England • E.W. Fawcett & R.O. Gibson • First used for underwater cable coatings and insulation for radar

22. Polyethylene • 1943 Karl Ziegler changed polymerization of polyethylene • Use of catalysts • Now is most widely produced and perhaps most versatile plastic

23. Polypropylene • Guilio Natta continued Ziegler’s work • Created polypropylene in 1957 • Substituted for polyethylene where high temperatures were involved • Ex. Dishwasher safe dishes Car’s front bumper made of polypropylene in 1978

25. Relevant Additional Links • History of Plastic and Leo Bakeland • inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blplastic.htm • History of Plastics • www.lle.mdx.ac.uk/site/docs/dt/Historyofplastics.html • About Plastics • www.americanplasticscouncil.org/benefits/about_plastics/history.html