A brief history of plastics

1. A brief history of plastics Additional information animation

2. In the beginningNatural polymers In the middle of the 17th century John Osborne made mouldings from Horn, a natural thermoplastic protein keratin. By the mid 19th century plastic extruders using natural gums from tropical trees.Gutta percha was used to protect and the insulate submarine cables. Around the same time Hanock and Goodyear independently discovered how to vulcanise rubber. The first time a natural polymer was deliberately chemically altered.

3. Man Made polymers The first semi-synthetic plastic material was cellulose nitrate ( now called celluloid). Alexander Parkes , found that the addition of a plasticiser to cellulose nitrate enabled it to be worked on hot rollers, calendered and spread to produce Parkesine, the first plastic. It was introduced to the world during the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. He was driven by the need to replace ivory, which was needed for billiard balls, and this was becoming scarce. He failed to make money from his ideas, in 1870, the Hyatt brothers further developed his ideas and developed what we now call celluloid.

4. Bakelite, (Phenolics) The first completely synthetic man-made substance. Dr Baekeland in New York, developed the process for the manufacture of Phenolic Plastics known as Bakelite in 1909. In the 1920's he joined with the inventor Sir James Swinburne to develop the Bakelite business molding a wide range of domestic items. Unlike previous ‘plastics’ it would never change (it is a thermosetting plastic). Cellulose was inflammable!! Bakelite was important in the manufacture of world war two weapons.

5. Cellophane and Rayon Dr Jacques Brandenberger, a Swiss textile engineer, invented Rayon in 1913, principally to find a way of protecting table cloths from wine spills. Later he developed a way of making sheets of this new material, which he marketed as Cellophane.

6. Amino Plastics Research into plastics in the 1920’s, which were colourless and therefore could be produced in much more interesting colours than the dull dark colours of Bakelite, resulted in the invention of urea and thiourea resins. These plastics began useful as resins, varnishes and adhesives. In the mid 30’s melamine was developed, which, as well as having the properties of the previous resins also was more resistant to heat, water and detergents.

7. The ‘Poly’ era The 30’s saw the development of many thermoplastics. P.V.C, Nylon, Polythene, Polystyrene and Perspex. Nylon was invented by Walter Carothers at Du Pont. He was studying ways in which artificial silk could be made. Du Pont was already making moisture-proof cellophane when Carothers, working on the properties of a new fibre Called ‘Fibre 66’ recognised the value of this new plastic. Although a German H. Staudinger was the first to recognise The structural nature of plastics, Carothers built on this knowledge by studying how different chemicals could be inserted into the chemical chain. Velcro, developed in 1957, invented by de Maestral, uses Nylon.

8. The ‘Poly’ era P.V.C, was invented Waldo Seman, by accident, while attempting to stick rubber to metal. In 1933 another plastic was discovered by accident. SaranTm, (polyvinylidene chloride) used for food packaging. Cling film. Also in 1933 polythene was discovered by Fawcett and Gibson. An experiment using 2000 atmospheres had gone wrong!!! In 1938 Teflon was discovered by accident by the Du Pont scientist, Roy Plunkett. He accidentally pumped freon gas into a cylinder and left it in cold storage over night.

9. The ‘Poly’ era Terylene was the first wholly synthetic fibre invented in Britain. It is made by polymerizing ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. Cloth made from Terylene keeps its shape after washing and is hard-wearing. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is another thermoplastic resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibres; beverage, food and other liquid containers. It is one of the most important raw materials used in man-made fibres

10. High-tech plastics During world war two silicones were developed, along with epoxy and polyester resins. The latter, when combined with glass fibre, was the start of the era of composite plastics. The future will see the use of these composite materials, polymers combined with glass, carbon and aramid fibres.

11. Photodegradable polymers These polymers are those that break down through the action of ultraviolet (UV) light, which degrades the chemical bond or link in the polymer or chemical structure of the plastic. This process can be assisted by the presence of UV-sensitive additives in polymer. Polyethylene modified to contain chromophores which absorb at greater wavelength than 200 nm. These are used to accelerate the degradation of polyethylene on exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The most commonly used degradable bag is the oxo-degradable bag where the lifetime can be controlled when compared with other types of degradable bags. Oxo-degradable bags can be programmed to give a certain length of time at the time of manufacture. Different percentages of additives will have to be added and the lifetime of the bag can be controlled accordingly.

12. Nappies • Cloth nappies cost between £100-£400 as opposed to disposable at £800-£1,200 for the 2.5 years of normal nappy use. • 3 billion nappies are thrown away in the UK each year with 90% going to landfill. They can take up to 500 years to decompose. • Disposables make up 4% of total household waste and up to 50% of that of families with one baby • Disposable nappies use up to 5 times more energy to produce than cotton ones – that's including the washing process . • Seven million trees are felled every year in Canada and Scandinavia to supply the pulp for disposables sold in the UK. video

13. Sodium polyacrylate is a polymer with a molecular weight of over one million! sodium carboxylate Chemical Background Groups called sodium carboxylate are attached along the backbone.

14. Sodium poly(acrylate) absorbs 500 times its own mass of water. water - - +

15. Sodium poly(acrylate) absorbs 500 times its own mass of water. - - + - -

16. Sodium poly(acrylate) absorbs 500 times its own mass of water. + + + + + +

17. Nappies, what do you think? It’s best to use towelling nappies rather than disposable plastic nappies – WRONG – An Environment Agency report in May 2005 shows it is better for the environment to use disposable nappies. Washing nappies uses heat, water and detergents, all of which add to environmental damage (far greater than plastic nappy impacts).

18. Plastic bags, what do you think?