Leo Hendrik Baekeland developed the first totally synthetic thermosetting plastic, which paved the way for modern material science.
In the 1860’s, the firm of Phelan and Collender offered a prize of ten thousand dollars to anyone who could produce a substance that could serve as an inexpensive substitute for ivory, which was somewhat difficult to obtain in large quantities at reasonable prices. At the time, the amount of the prize represented a sizable sum of money, and many tinkerers and inventors sought to win it. Christian Friedrich Schönbein laid the groundwork for a breakthrough in the quest for a new material in 1846 with his serendipitous discovery of nitrocellulose, more commonly known as guncotton, which was produced by the reaction of nitric acid with cotton. A number of scientists explored the properties of this material, among them Alexander Parkes,
While Parkes struggled with Parkesine, an American inventor named John Wesley Hyatt
Ultimately, the properties of celluloid led to the realization that it was more suited for other things. As a billiard ball substitute, for instance, it was not really adequate for various reasons. First of all, it is a thermoplastic—in other words, it softens when heated and so can be easily deformed or molded at high temperatures. Also, it is highly flammable, hardly a desirable characteristic. A widely circulated, perhaps apocryphal, story claimed that celluloid billiard balls detonated when they collided. One of the more interesting uses of celluloid was in the making of motion-picture film, as it could be produced in a thin layer. It was used almost exclusively for this purpose, despite its flammability, until it was displaced by a less flammable substitute.
A class of materials related to celluloids are thermosetting compounds.
Leo Hendrik Baekeland is recognized as the first person to produce a completely artificial plastic. Born in Ghent, Belgium, Baekeland emigrated to the United States in 1889 to undertake applied research, a pursuit not encouraged in Europe at the time. Baekeland worked in the photographic industry until his good reputation allowed him to start his own consulting firm in 1891. He also pursued his research interests and achieved commercial success by developing Velox, a photographic paper. Industrialist George Eastman purchased the rights to Velox from Baekeland for one million dollars, and with this wealth, Baekeland purchased a home in Yonkers, New York, constructed a laboratory there, and continued his research efforts.
One area in which Baekeland hoped to make inroads was in the development of an artificial shellac, as he knew there would be a wide market for any reasonably priced substitute for shellac, an expensive natural product. Baekeland’s research scheme, begun in 1905, focused on finding a solvent that could dissolve the resinous products from a certain class of organic chemical reaction. The particular resins he used had been reported in the mid-1800’s by the German chemist Adolf von Baeyer. These resins were produced by the condensation reaction of formaldehyde with a class of chemicals called phenols. Baeyer found that frequently the major product of such a reaction was a gummy residue that was virtually impossible to remove from glassware. Baekeland focused on finding a material that could dissolve these resinous products, believing that such a substance would prove to be the shellac substitute he sought. His efforts proved frustrating, however, as he failed to find an adequate solvent for these resins. After repeated attempts, Baekeland shifted the orientation of his work. Abandoning the quest to dissolve the resins, he set about trying to develop a resin that would be impervious to any solvent, reasoning that such a material would have useful applications.
Baekeland’s experiments involved the manipulation of phenol-formaldehyde reactions through precise control of the chemical proportions, addition of catalysts, and manipulation of the temperature and pressure at which the reactions were performed. Many of these experiments were performed in a reactor vessel that was 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) tall, which he called a Bakelizer. In 1907, his meticulous experiments paid off when he opened the reactor to find that he had created a clear solid that was heat resistant, nonconducting, and machinable. Experimentation proved that the material could be dyed practically any color during the manufacturing process, with no effect on its physical properties.
Baekeland filed a patent for this new material in 1907. (Ironically, his patent was filed one day before that of James Swinburne, a British electrical engineer who had developed a similar product in his quest to create an insulating material.) Baekeland dubbed his new creation Bakelite and announced its existence to the scientific community on February 15, 1909, at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The following year, the General Bakelite Corporation
Baekeland’s synthesis of Bakelite paved the way for the development of a great variety of novel human-made products, some of which are similar to natural materials and some of which have no parallel in nature. Bakelite was introduced at the very time the automobile industry was in need of parts fabricated from such a material. This provided a firm industrial base for the material that is still retained.
In synthesizing Bakelite, Baekeland drew on both his theoretical knowledge of chemistry and, to a large extent, his practical knowledge based on years of experience. He did not fully understand the structure of his product on a molecular level. Bakelite proved to be the first of a class of compounds called synthetic polymers.
Industries also were interested in developing synthetic polymers to produce materials that could be used in place of natural fibers such as cotton. The most dramatic success in this area was achieved by Du Pont chemist Wallace Hume Carothers,
Postwar development in the plastics industry yielded many useful new products, such as high-density polyethylene, for which Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Research and development of novel synthetic materials in more recent years produced such innovations as Kevlar, and the area remains one of intense competition.
Synthetic polymers constitute one branch of a broad area known as material science.
Unlike most natural products, plastics are extremely persistent in the environment. Growing awareness of this characteristic has led to the implementation of recycling technology as well as research aimed at developing agents that facilitate the biodegradation of these materials.
-
Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. 2d rev. ed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1982. A user-friendly text that contains biographical information on more than fifteen hundred scientists and inventors. Extensive cross-referencing enables interested readers to learn much about both scientific discoveries and the personalities and accomplishments of the scientists involved. -
Canby, Thomas Y. “Reshaping Our Lives: Advanced Materials.” National Geographic 176 (December, 1989): 746-781. Presents a comprehensive overview of modern material science, including detailed discussions of polymers, ceramics, composites, and other materials. Also contains information on yearly production figures, theoretical background, and manufacturing techniques. Color photographs. -
Chiles, James R. “On Land, Sea, and in the Air, Those Polymer Invaders Are Here.” Smithsonian 16 (November, 1985): 76-86. Informative article gives a brief summary of the history of plastic and an excellent overview of modern plastic materials. Includes several good photographs of plastics manufacturing processes. -
Fenichell, Stephen. Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century. New York: Collins, 1996. Traces the history of plastics and discusses their sociological importance as they revolutionized many fields, from fashion to medicine. -
Friedel, Robert. “A World of New Materials.” In Inventors and Discoverers: Changing Our World, edited by Elizabeth L. Newhouse. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1988. Presents a historical survey of materials science, including detailed history of such materials as rubber, celluloid, and plastics. Includes interesting photographs illustrating the broad potential of plastics touted to a receptive public. Also includes an excellent biographical profile of Baekeland. -
Mossman, Susan, ed. Early Plastics: Perspectives 1850-1950. New York: Continuum, 2000. A collection of essays by historians of art and technology on all aspects of the social history of the first century of plastic. Includes twenty color plates. -
Williams, Trevor I. A Short History of Twentieth-Century Technology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. An excellent overview of technology from 1900 to 1950, this work compresses an incredible amount of material into a small text. Includes a chapter on chemicals with a section devoted to plastics that places twentieth century achievements in synthetic plastic research in perspective.
Creation of the First Synthetic Vat Dye
Kipping Discovers Silicones
Burton Refines Petroleum with Thermal Cracking
Carothers Invents Nylon