History of Plastic - Appreciation

History of Plastic - Appreciation

Plastic: An Appreciation
Plastic is everywhere. It surrounds us in our homes, in our vehicles, in our workplaces and everywhere else we go. What exactly is plastic though? In order to answer that question, let’s go back to when it started. The year was 1907. Leo Hendrick Baekeland was the man. A chemist, born in Belgium, he came to America for his honeymoon and decided to stay. In his search for a substance to replace shellac, he was experimenting with phenol and formaldehyde. By mixing the two and placing them under high temperature and high pressure, he created the world’s first synthetic plastic, which was also the first completely man-made material. He called this material Bakelite. From this material, all synthetic plastics are based. Thanks to his innovation, we now have plastics everywhere. It has many uses, the most helpful of which is in the medical field. It also opened the door to PVC and Teflon; plastic polymers that we use every day (whether we know it or not). These plastics (PVC and Teflon, and plastics in the medical industry) have had a great impact on our lives and they continue to impact them each and every day.
Teflon is a type of plastic. Teflon however is not its proper name. The name we call this plastic is actually a registered trademark of DuPont. When another manufacturer makes it, they call it polytetrafluoroethylene… but Teflon flows off the tongue with a little more ease. Interesting enough, flowing with ease is what it was created for. In 1938, DuPont designed a coating material for windshield wiper blades to stop them from squealing as they were dragged across the windshield. Well, it worked. In fact, it was so successful, that they (and others) began using it for a wide variety of applications. Teflon is considered the most slippery substance known to man. It is also extremely resistant to corrosion, to oxidation, and to chemicals. It can withstand temperatures of up to 482° Fahrenheit. We all know of non-stick pots and pans...

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