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Plastics > Plastics FAQs & Links > Plexiglas® Primer > Brief History of Plastics - specifically Plexiglas acrylic sheet
Brief History of Plastics - specifically Plexiglas acrylic sheetBefore going on to the next topic, we would like to briefly illuminate on the
history of plastics and their introduction into the industrial and consumer
society. As we mentioned, the definition of the word plastic is to form or
model something. In this light you can understand that wood, clay, glass and
vegetable fibers were the plastics of early man who shaped and baked these
materials to his own needs. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution came
man's exploitation of natural resources and scientists in western civilization
began to experiment with these resources and organic chemicals.
The first important date in our history books shows us that a compound called
urea was discovered and isolated in the urine of mammals and other higher forms
of animal life. This event took place in the year 1773, but it was not until
1828 that urea was synthetically produced and the foundation for
phenol-formaldehyde plastics was laid. In 1843 an acrylic acid preparation was
reported and in 1901 Dr. Otto Rohm published the results of his researches with
acrylic resinoids. By 1909 the first patent for phenol- formaldehyde plastics
was secured by Dr. Leo Baekeland. he found that phenol and formaldehyde when
combined formed a resinous substance, a phenolic plastic which he called
"Bakelite". It was a plastic -- it could be softened with heat and then molded
into shape and set into final form by continued heating under pressure while in
the mold. Baekeland's discovery triggered the creative imagination of organic
chemists and research began the world over more intensely than ever before.
Yes, in 1914, the founding company that became Ridout Plastics began selling
those small numbers and letters made from cellulose plastic.
Acrylic resins were first prepared in this country in 1931 for industrial
coatings and laminated glass binders. The better known derivative of
methacrylic acid, polymethyl methacrylate, was not introduced until 1936 as a
transparent sheet and in 1937 as a molding powder. Thus the beginning of the
acrylic era and Plexiglas. Acrylic sheet played an important role in World War
II as bullet resistant glazing in our warplanes. It was found to be light and
very strong and could be easily formed to fit into the structural designs of
the aircraft. To this day, the Plexiglas windows in those planes are still
clear and free from yellowing; weatherability of Plexiglas is one of its most
well known traits, something no other plastic glazing can match. Plexiglas soon
found its way into homes and factories for safety glazing, electrical and
chemical applications, skylights and windscreens and hundreds of other
beneficial applications.
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