Research-discovery, nylon

Wallace Carothers and coworkers at DuPont synthesized aliphatic polyesters in the 1930s [Furukawa, 1998 Hounshell and Smith, 1988]. These had melting points below 100°C, which made them unsuitable for firber use. Carothers then turned successfully to polyamides, based on the theoretical consideration that amides melt higher than esters. Polyamides were the first synthetic fibers to be produced commercially. The polyester and polyamide research at DuPont had a major impact on all of polymer science. Carothers laid the foundation for much of our understanding of how to synthesize polymeric materials. Out of that work came other discoveries in the late 1930s, including neoprene, an elastomer produced from chloro-prene, and Teflon, produced from tetrafluoroethylene. The initial commercial application for nylon 6/6 was women s hosiery, but this was short-lived with the intrusion of World War II. The entire nylon 6/6 production was allocated to the war effort in applications for parachutes, tire cord, sewing thread, and rope. The civilian applications for nylon products burst forth and expanded rapidly after the war. 

During preceding decades, the discovery of new products such as Bakelite, nylon, rayon, celluloid, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, Saran , and Teflon convinced chemical corporations that such products held the key to an exciting and profitable future based on a host of amazing new "miracle" materials. Research departments around the world began the search for new materials with properties designed to meet a variety of special needs. One chemist who succeeded in this kind of project was Stephanie Kwolek. 

The polyamide obtained in these experiments was identified as polynonanoamide Coffman and his coworkers had prepared this compound in 1948 via the polyanhydride of sebacic acid. The first fiber-forming polyamide was obtained by Carothers from an amino acid—viz., w-aminononanoic acid—a discovery in 1935 which led to intensified research on the polyamides and culminated in the development of Nylon 6-6. 

The discovery of nylon is one example. In 1928, E.l. DuPont de Nemours and Company appointed a young, 32-year-old chemist from Harvard, Wallace Carothers, as the director of its new research center. The goal was to create artificial fibers similar to cellulose and silk. In 1930, Julian Hill, a member of Carothers team, dipped a hot glass rod in a mixture of solutions and unexpectedly pulled out long fibers such as the one shown in Figure 1-14. Carothers pursued the development of these fibers as a synthetic silk that could withstand high temperatures and eventually developed nylon in 1934. Nylon s first use was in a toothbrush with nylon bristles. During World War 11, nylon was used as a replacement for silk in parachutes. Nylon is used extensively today in textiles and some kinds of plastics. 

Dyestuff research based mainly on aromatic amines had brought about large-scale sophisticated research in the US chemical industry. Around 1930, this enabled the rapid move into polymers, resulting at DuPont in the discovery of a successful synthetic rubber process (1930) and nylon (1935). The discovery of polythene at ICI in 1935 arose from research into synthetic dyestuffs and reactions carried out under high pressures,... 

Figure 4, This complex of buildings, just north of the BrandyvAne Creek near Wilmington, Del., is Du PonPs Experimental Station, one of the world s largest and most diverse research laboratories. With its establishment in 1903, Du Pont embarked on a wide-ranging research program which, with the discovery of neoprene and nylon, introduced a new era in polymer chemistry. Today about 1,400 scientists and engineers work at the station on projects ranging from theoretical investigation and the research for new structures to applied studies and new-product support.

In 1927 the management of Du Pont initiated a basic research programme that led to the discovery of neoprene synthetic rubber and nylon. The programme encompassed colloid chemistry, catalysis, the gathering of physical and chemical data, organic... 

Herbert Horawetz and Herman Mark, in a recent paper, arrive at the following appreciation of Schlack s achievement [16] "Whereas Carothers discovery of nylon 66 is an outstanding example of the vindication of a far-sighted policy of industrial research management, Schlack s achievement, arrived at as a hobby with the help of a single laboratory assistant, shows that success is possible even under adverse conditions for a determined researcher with a vision". 

Research continued into fiber-forming polymers, but the next new fully synthetic yam was not discovered until the 1930s, when Wallace Hume Carothers, working for DuPont, discovered and developed nylon. This was first commercialized in 1938 and was widely developed during the 1940s to become one of the major yam types used. Continuing research led to the discovery of polyester in 1941, and over the ensuing... 

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