Omar Khalid
Plastic is a word that originally meant pliable and easily shaped. It is produced in chemical plants by the polymerization of their starting materials (monomers), which are almost always petrochemical in nature. The first man-made bioplastic was created by Alexander Parkes in 1855 and was called Parkesine. It was a hard, flexible, and transparent plastic. The first fully synthetic plastic was Bakelite, invented in 1907 by Leo Baekeland, who coined the term plastics. While most plastics are produced from natural gas and petroleum, a growing minority are produced from renewable resources.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| First man-made bioplastic | Parkesine, made from cellulose nitrate by Alexander Parkes in 1855 or 1856 |
| First synthetic polymer | Invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1869 |
| First fully synthetic plastic | Bakelite, invented by Leo Baekeland in 1907 |
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What You'll Learn
- The first man-made bioplastic was created by Alexander Parkes in 1856
- John Wesley Hyatt made a fortune with Alexander Parkes' invention
- Henry Ford used bioplastics made from soybeans for car parts in 1940
- Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, in 1907
- The first synthetic polymer was invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1869
The first man-made bioplastic was created by Alexander Parkes in 1856
Alexander Parkes, born on December 29, 1813, in Birmingham, England, was a metallurgist, chemist, and inventor known for his work in developing various industrial processes and materials. In 1856, he created Parkesine, the first man-made bioplastic. Parkesine was a significant invention, made from cellulose nitrate and various mixtures of nitrocellulose, alcohols, camphor, and oils. It predated the development of celluloid, the first plastic.
Parkes' creation was a hard, flexible, and transparent plastic that anticipated many modern aesthetic and utility uses of plastics. However, it was not commercially successful due to its high production cost, tendency to crack, and flammability. Despite this, Parkesine paved the way for future developments in the industry, and Parkes is remembered as a pioneer in the field of plastics and polymers.
The process of creating plastic from oil is complex and involves heating crude oil in a furnace and feeding the resulting vapour into a fractional distillation tower. Different compartments, or fractions, separate the mixture based on weight and boiling point. The vapours condense at different temperatures, with the lightest fractions, like gasoline and petroleum gas, rising to the top, and heavier liquids, like gas oils, separating lower down.
While crude oil is a source of raw material for plastic production, it is not the primary source in the United States. Natural gas and feedstocks derived from natural gas processing and crude oil refining are more commonly used. The specific amounts and origins of these feedstocks are challenging to determine due to the flexibility of the petrochemical industry.
The development of oil-based plastics was boosted during World War I, and they became even more prevalent after World War II due to the abundance of cheap oil. However, the oil crisis in the 1970s drove the search for alternatives, leading to a renewed interest in bioplastics and substitutes for petroleum-based products.
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John Wesley Hyatt made a fortune with Alexander Parkes' invention
John Wesley Hyatt was an American inventor and industrialist. He was born in 1837 in Starkey, New York, and began working as a printer when he was 16 years old. He is known for discovering the process of making the first cheap synthetic plastic material, called celluloid. Hyatt revolutionized the plastic industry, as raw materials used for different products were previously expensive and sourced from nature.
Hyatt experimented with Parkesine, a hardened form of nitrocellulose, invented by Englishman Alexander Parkes in 1862. Parkesine is considered the first true plastic. Hyatt improved the plastic's malleability by adding camphor and renaming the plastic celluloid. He and his brother Isaiah patented the invention in 1870 and dubbed it Celluloid in 1872. They moved their company, the Celluloid Manufacturing Company, from Albany to Newark, New Jersey in 1872. The company became the premier celluloid company in the world, and the brothers put numerous patents to work, forming celluloid into sheets, rods, and other unfinished shapes.
Hyatt's discovery of celluloid was the subject of a patent dispute with English inventor Daniel Spill, who had patented a similar compound in the UK as "Xylonite". The court eventually ruled that the true inventor of celluloid was Parkes, but that all manufacturing of celluloid could continue, including Hyatt's.
Hyatt received numerous accolades for his work, including the Perkin Medal in 1914, the John Scott Medal in 1898, and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He had nearly 238 patents to his credit, including the first injection moulding machine, sugarcane milling, roller bearings, and a multiple-stitch sewing machine.
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Henry Ford used bioplastics made from soybeans for car parts in 1940
The history of plastic can be traced back to 1500 BCE, when Mesoamerican cultures like the Olmec, Maya, and Aztecs used natural latex and rubber to make containers and waterproof clothing. However, the first man-made bioplastic was patented by Alexander Parkes in 1856. This bioplastic, called Parkesine, was crafted from cellulose nitrate and boasted impressive flexibility, hardness, and transparency.
In the early 1940s, Henry Ford, an automobile pioneer, ventured into the realm of bioplastics, experimenting with soybeans as a base material for car parts. Ford's interest in this field was driven by his vision of integrating industry with agriculture, believing that soybeans could play a pivotal role in unifying these sectors. This passion for soybeans began as early as 1928, when he promoted the idea of "Transforming Crops into Motor Car Materials, to Benefit Car Owner and Farmer Alike."
Ford's experiments culminated in the creation of a plastic-bodied car unveiled in 1941, dubbed the ""Soybean Car." This automobile, exhibited at Dearborn Days and later at the Michigan State Fair Grounds, featured a tubular steel frame with 14 plastic panels attached. The car weighed 2000 lbs., a significant 1000 lbs. lighter than its steel counterpart. While the exact formula of these plastic panels remains a mystery, it is believed that they were crafted from soybeans, wheat, hemp, flax, and ramie, among other ingredients.
Ford's innovative spirit extended beyond the Soybean Car. He also showcased the strength of his plastic creations through dramatic demonstrations, where he would strike a plastic trunk lid mounted to his personal car with an axe. This axe, with a rubber boot on its sharp end, would rebound with considerable force, illustrating the toughness of the plastic material.
Henry Ford's contributions to the realm of bioplastics and his pursuit of sustainable alternatives to traditional metals left a lasting impact on the automotive and agricultural industries. His legacy continues to inspire exploration into the potential of bioplastics for a greener future.
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Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, in 1907
In 1907, Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic. Born in 1863 in Ghent, Belgium, Baekeland was educated in Belgium and Germany, and spent most of his career in the United States. He was a chemist and entrepreneur with a passion for chemistry, always on the lookout for ways to turn his inventions into money.
Baekeland's interest in synthetic resins was deliberate, as he sought to find a replacement for shellac, which at the time was made from the shells of Asian lac beetles. He began experimenting with the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde, producing a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac called Novolak, which was not a market success. However, by controlling the pressure and temperature applied to these two compounds, he eventually created a hard, mouldable plastic.
Bakelite, named after its inventor, was made from phenol (then known as carbolic acid) and formaldehyde. The chemical name of Bakelite is polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride. Baekeland filed a patent for making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde in July 1907, and it was granted in December 1909. He officially announced his achievement in February 1909 at a meeting of the New York section of the American Chemical Society.
Bakelite was the first plastic that retained its shape after being heated, making it ideal for use in radios, telephones, and electrical insulators due to its excellent electrical insulation and heat resistance. Its versatility and ease of moulding meant it soon found applications in most branches of industry. The invention of Bakelite marked the beginning of the age of plastics and synthetic materials, with the world production of Bakelite reaching approximately 175,000 tons by the time of Baekeland's death in 1944.
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The first synthetic polymer was invented by John Wesley Hyatt in 1869
The history of plastic can be traced back to the mid-19th century, with the creation of the first synthetic polymer by John Wesley Hyatt in 1869. Known as celluloid, Hyatt's invention was a significant development in the history of materials and human manufacturing.
The Discovery of Celluloid
John Wesley Hyatt was an American inventor born in 1837 in New York. He had a prolific career, with nearly 238 patents to his credit, including improvements to sugar cane mills and water filtration devices, and the first injection moulding machine. However, his most notable contribution was the invention of celluloid. Hyatt was inspired by a New York firm's offer of $10,000 for a substitute for ivory, which was in high demand for billiard balls but faced supply constraints due to the reliance on elephant tusks. Hyatt experimented with Parkesine, a hardened form of nitrocellulose invented by Alexander Parkes in 1862. By treating cellulose derived from cotton fibre or plant matter with camphor, Hyatt created a plastic that could be crafted into various shapes and mimic natural substances.
Impact of Celluloid
The invention of celluloid had a profound impact. For the first time, human manufacturing was not limited solely by the constraints of natural resources. Celluloid could be crafted to imitate materials like tortoiseshell, horn, linen, and ivory, saving elephants from endangerment. It found commercial success in a range of applications, including photography, where it replaced glass plates, and in the production of combs, shirt collars, and dentures, offering a less expensive and more versatile alternative to natural materials.
The Birth of the Plastics Industry
While celluloid was a breakthrough, it was not a fully synthetic plastic as it relied on cellulose, a natural polymer. The creation of the first fully synthetic plastic, Bakelite, is credited to Leo Hendrik Baekeland in 1907. Baekeland was seeking a synthetic substitute for shellac, a natural electrical insulator. Bakelite was durable, heat-resistant, and ideal for mechanical mass production. It marked a new era in plastics, where materials could be designed with specific properties and mass-produced for a wide range of uses. The successes of Hyatt and Baekeland attracted major chemical companies to invest in polymer research, leading to the emergence of new plastics and the birth of the modern plastics industry.
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Frequently asked questions
The first man-made bioplastic was Parkesine, patented by Alexander Parkes in 1856. It was made from cellulose nitrate, a hard, flexible, and transparent plastic.
The world's first fully synthetic plastic was Bakelite, invented in New York in 1907 by Leo Baekeland, who coined the term "plastics".
Nobel laureate Hermann Staudinger has been called "the father of polymer chemistry".
