Polymer Technology

The [Rise of the] Macro-Molecular Concept

• Hermann Staudinger

- 1917 proposed “macro-molecules”

gaint longchain molecules whose small-molecule constituents were linked together by chemical bnds no different to those in ordinary organic compounds

1953 Nobel Prize

• Wallace Hume Carothers

- DuPont 1920′s

-  synthesized high-molecular weight polymers

from bi-functional reactants, using normal organic condensation reactions

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Plastics – the beginnings

• 1839 Natural Rubber  – Charles Goodyear
• 1843 Vulcanite          – Thomas Hancock
• 1843 Gutta-Percha     - William Montgomerie
• 1856 Shellac              – Alfred Critchlow, Samuel Peck
• 1856 Bois Durci          - Francois Charles Lepage

History of Industrial Polymers

• 1939 PS             
  Eduard Simon[a German apothecary]
• 1926 PVC          
  Dr. Waldo Semon[BFGoodrich, hired to develop a cost-effective synthetic rubber]
• 1935 LDPE 
  Eric Fawcett and Reginald Gibson[ICI]
• 1941 PET          
  Rex Whinfield and James Dickson[Calico Printer's Association]
• 1951 HDPE 
  Robert Banks and and Paul Hogan[Phillips Petroleum]
• 1951 PP            
  Robert Banks and and Paul Hogan[Phillips Petroleum]

The Plastic Era – Thermosetting Plastics and Thermoplastics

• 1909  Phenol-Formaldehyde (Bekelite) – Leo Hendrik Baekeland
• 1926  Vinyl (PVC) – Walter Semon
• 1927  Cellulose Acetate
• 1935  Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) – Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett
• 1936  Acrylic or Polymethyl Methacrylate
• 1938  Polystyrene made practical
• 1938  Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Teflon – Roy Plunkett
• 1939  Nylon – Wallace Carothers
• 1941  Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) – Whinfield and Dickson
• 1942  Low Density Polyethylene
• 1942  Unsaturated Polyester
• 1951  High-density Polyethylene (HDPE) – Paul Hogan and Robert Banks
• 1951  Polypropylene (PP) – Paul Hogan and Robert Banks
• 1958  Polycarbonate – Daniel Fox – GE  plastics
• 1964  Polyimide – DuPont – Noryl
• 1970  thermoplastic Polyester
• 1978  Linear Low Density Polyethylene
• 1985  Liquid Crystal Polymers