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The History of Plastics

The history of plastics began thousands of years ago with early plastics like tortoise shell and tree resins. However, modern plastics started being developed in the mid-19th century, with the first man-made plastic called Parkesine invented in 1862. Important early synthetic plastics included celluloid, Bakelite, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene. Major advances were made during World War II and afterwards, including the development of nylon, Teflon, polyethylene, and polypropylene. Plastics became widely used for many applications after 1950 due to advances in polymer chemistry.

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143 views25 pages

The History of Plastics

The history of plastics began thousands of years ago with early plastics like tortoise shell and tree resins. However, modern plastics started being developed in the mid-19th century, with the first man-made plastic called Parkesine invented in 1862. Important early synthetic plastics included celluloid, Bakelite, polyvinyl chloride, and polystyrene. Major advances were made during World War II and afterwards, including the development of nylon, Teflon, polyethylene, and polypropylene. Plastics became widely used for many applications after 1950 due to advances in polymer chemistry.

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GAP
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The History of Plastics

To accompany video
Timeline
Definition

 Plastic is broadly defined as


 Any inherently formless material that can be
molded or modeled under heat or pressure
As early as…
 Go back as far as the Old Testament
 References of:
 Fillers
 Adhesives
 Coatings
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
In the beginning…
 Greek word plastikos
 First natural plastics
 Tortoise shell
 Tree resins
 Shellac
 Insect secretion
Christian Schoenbine
 Swiss Chemist
 1840’s
 Developed Cellulose nitrate
 Mix of cotton, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid
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
Ebonite bracelet from 1880
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
Alexander Parkes- 1855
 Rights sold to Daniel Spill (1865)
 Patented
 Downfall- high cost of the raw materials needed
in its production.
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
Bakelite
 Dr. Leo Baekeland
 First totally synthetic plastic (1907)
 Patented in 1909
 Thermoset resin
 Replaced rubber for insulation in
electrics
Bakelite
 Phenol-formaldehyde
resins which he called
Bakelite.
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
PVC Cloth brushes from
England in 1950
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)
Polystyrene
 Dow Chemical
brought polystyrene
to the U.S. in 1937

Toy shark, in
Polystyrene, with
moving jaw, Made
in USA around
1950
Polystyrene
up close
Dr. Wallace H. Carothers
 1930’s research on
polymer chains at
DuPont Chemical
Department
 Published theory of
polycondensation
 Invented Neoprene
and Nylon
World War II
 Nylon
 Ropes, tent and
parachute straps, belts,
etc
 Teflon
 Polytetrafluoroethylene
(PTFE)
 Dupont Chemical
Department
 First used for artillery
shell covers
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
Polyethylene
 1943 Karl Ziegler changed
polymerization of
polyethylene
 Use of catalysts
 Now is most widely
produced and perhaps most
versatile plastic
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
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/Historyofplasti
cs.html
 About Plastics
 www.americanplasticscouncil.org/benefits/abo
ut_plastics/history.html

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