A Brief History of the Invention of Plastics

A Brief History of the Invention of Plastics The first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes who publicly demonstrated it at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. The material, called Parkesine, was an organic material derived from cellulose that once heated could be molded and retained its shape when cooled. Celluloid Celluloid is derived from cellulose and alcoholized camphor. John Wesley Hyatt invented celluloid as a substitute for the ivory in billiard balls in 1868. He first tried using  a natural substance called collodion  after spilling a bottle of it and discovering that the material dried into a tough and flexible film. However, the material was not strong enough to be used as a billiard ball, not until the addition of camphor, a derivative of the laurel tree. The new celluloid could now be molded with heat and pressure into a durable shape. Besides billiard balls, celluloid became famous as the first flexible photographic film used for still photography and motion pictures. Hyatt created celluloid in a strip format for movie film. By 1900, movie film was an exploding market for celluloid. Formaldehyde Resins - Bakelite After cellulose nitrate, formaldehyde was the next product to advance the technology of plastic. Around 1897, efforts to manufacture white chalkboards led to casein plastics (milk protein mixed with formaldehyde) Galalith and Erinoid are two early tradename examples. In 1899, Arthur Smith received British Patent 16,275, for phenol-formaldehyde resins for use as an ebonite substitute in electrical insulation, the first patent for processing a formaldehyde resin. However, in 1907, Leo Hendrik Baekeland improved phenol-formaldehyde reaction techniques and invented the first fully synthetic resin to become commercially successful with the trade name Bakelite. Here is a brief timeline of the evolution of plastics. Timeline - Precursors 1839 - Natural Rubber - Method of processing invented by Charles Goodyear1843 - Vulcanite - Invented by Thomas Hancock1843 - Gutta-Percha - Invented by William Montgomerie1856 - Shellac - Invented by Alfred Critchlow and Samuel Peck1856 - Bois Durci - Invented by Francois Charles Lepage Timeline - Beginning of the Plastic Era With Semi-Synthetics 1839 - Polystyrene or PS - Discovered by  Eduard Simon1862 - Parkesine - Invented by Alexander Parkes1863 - Cellulose Nitrate or Celluloid - Invented by John Wesley Hyatt1872 - Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC - First created by Eugen Baumann1894 - Viscose Rayon - Invented by Charles Frederick Cross and Edward John Bevan Timeline - Thermosetting Plastics and Thermoplastics 1908 - Cellophane  - Invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger1909 - First true plastic Phenol-Formaldehyde (trade name Bakelite) - Invented by Leo Hendrik Baekeland1926 - Vinyl or PVC - Walter Semon invented a plasticized PVC1933 - Polyvinylidene chloride or Saran also called PVDC - Accidentally discovered by Ralph Wiley, a Dow Chemical lab worker1935 - Low-density polyethylene or LDPE - Invented by Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett1936 - Acrylic or Polymethyl Methacrylate1937 - Polyurethanes (trade-named Igamid for plastics materials and Perlon for fibers) - Otto Bayer and co-workers discovered and patented the chemistry of polyurethanes1938 - Polystyrene made practical1938 - Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE (trade-named Teflon) - Invented by Roy Plunkett1939 - Nylon and Neoprene - Considered a replacement for silk and a synthetic rubber respectively by Wallace Hume Carothers1941 - Polyethylene Terephthalate or Pet - Invented by Whinfield and Dickson1942 - Low-Density Polyethylene1942 - Unsaturated Polyester also called PET - Patented by John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson 1951 - High-density polyethylene or HDPE (trade-named Marlex) - Invented by Paul Hogan and Robert Banks1951 - Polypropylene or PP - Invented by Paul Hogan and Robert Banks1953 - Saran Wrap introduced by Dow Chemicals1954 - Styrofoam (a type of foamed polystyrene foam) - Invented by Ray McIntire for Dow Chemicals1964 - Polyimide1970 - Thermoplastic Polyester this includes trademarked Dacron, Mylar, Melinex, Teijin, and Tetoron1978 - Linear Low-Density Polyethylene1985 - Liquid Crystal Polymers