Spill, Daniel

One year after the failure of the Parkesine Company a collaborator of Parkes, Daniel Spill, formed the Xylonite Company to process materials similar to Parkesine. Once again economic failure resulted and the Company was wound up in December 1874. Undaunted, Spill moved to a new site, established the Daniel Spill Company and working in a modest way eontinued production of Xylonite and Ivoride. 

Roling WFM, Milner MG, Jones DM, Lee K, Daniel F, Swannell RJP, Head IM (2002) Robust hydrocarbon degradation and dynamics of bacterial communities during nutrient-enhanced oil spill bioremediation. Appl Environ Microbiol 68 5537-5548... 

After the failure of the Parkesine Company, Parkes and Daniel Spill formed the Xylonite Company which produced cellulose nitrate plastics under the trade names of Xylonite and Ivorude. Camphor, which Parkes claims to have used as a plasticizer or solvent was mentioned in his patent in 1855. Daniel Spill patented compositions containing cellulose nitrate and camphor in 1869. 

Early plasticizer technology focused on nitrocellulose materials. In the mid-I850s, Alexander Parkes developed a new nitrocellulose plastic using various oils to make the brittle polymer pliable. Parkes and then later one of his colleagues, Daniel Spill, attempted to create a new plastic industry with this technology. Unfortunately they had made a poor choice in using castor oil as the plasticizer, the oil exuded, and they were unable to produce materials with acceptable quality. A few years later, John Wesley Hyatt developed a process [2] for plasticization of nitrocellulose, leading to the successful commercialization of his plastic materials, which he called celluloid. This was the start of the plastic industry. 

---