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Brief History of Plastics - specifically Plexiglas acrylic sheet

Before 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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