History of polymeric materials

The use of polymeric materials started within the first stages of the evolution of mankind, who had used a wide range of macromolecular products such as clay, stone, wood, leather, cotton, wool, silk, parchment, papyrus and later on paper. Paper fabrication marked the beginning of the chemical processing of the natural polymers that over time were developed more and more. When man protected himself against wind and weather he constructed his primitive buildings of wood, bamboo, leaves, leather and fabrics, all of these materials are made of natnral polymers. 

Natural organic polymers dominated the existence and welfare of all nations, virtually nothing was known about their composition and structure. In each area food, clothing, transportation, communication, housing and art, highly sophisticated craftsmanship developed which was sparked by human intuition, creativity, zeal and patience and led to accomplishments which deserved the highest admiration of generations that followed. 

Between 1862 and 1866 in England and the USA, nitrocellulose was produced by treating cellulose with nitric acid, which in 1872 was plasticised with camphor to become the first plastic material known as celluloid [1]. 

In about 1897, galalith (gala = milk, lithos = stone) was produced in Germany by reacting casein, a milk protein, with formaldehyde [2]. 

Whereas celluloid was the first plastic material obtained by chemical modification of cellulose, the phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resin was the first commercially successful synthetic plastic. This phenolic plastic was discovered by L.Fi. Baekeland in Belgium in 1907, and Bakelite was produced industrially in 1910. Baekeland used the term resole to describe PF resins made with an alkaline catalyst, and those made with an acidic catalyst were called novolac. The ability of formaldehyde to transform some products in resinous materials was observed by Butlerov (1859) and Bayer (1872) [3]. 

---