The History of Synthetic Polymers

1860 - 1863 Lourengo, on poly(ethylene glycol)s noted increasing viscosity with n, and concluded the sticky residue would have n fs oo 

1894 Vorlander assigned increasing ring sizes to the polymers, thus postponing the development of polymer science 

1920 Staudinger proposed chain formulae for polystyrene, poly(oxymethylene), and rubber 

1930 - 1950 Chain statistics (Kuhn, Flory) large-scale industrial production, rubber elasticity understood 

1950 - 1970 Stereospecific polymers, copolymers, solid state (crystallinity) 

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The history of synthetic polymers is incredibly short. The term polymer was introduced in 1832. The first synthetic polymer (phenol-formaldehyde) was commercialized as Bakelite in 1909, while the first thermoplastic (polystyrene, Trolitul ), 6 years later. The early polymer industry was developed by entrepreneurs that had little if any technical background. The commercial successes (and... 

THE USE OF SYNTHETIC POLYMERS to accumulate organic components from water for analytical and bioassay purposes is reviewed in this chapter. This review is given perspective by including a brief history of adsorption chromatography, the use of activated carbons in water research, and the recent introduction of bonded phases for aqueous sample preparations. 

Chapter 4, The History of Polymers, offers a chance to do an interdisciplinary activity with a social studies teacher. Students can learn how the development of polymers is an integral part of the economic development of the twentieth century. Students can gain an appreciation of how conflicts were often the reason for the development of synthetic polymers to replace natural ones or ones that required monomers that were no longer accessible. In the chemistry course, students can learn more about the companies discussed in the history of polymers and what products they market in the twenty-first century. 

Peter J. T. Morris, Head of Research for the National Museum of Science Industry, London and Editor of Ambix, has written on many aspects of modem chemistry. He has published books on the history of synthetic mbber and polymers, modem chemical instrumentation and the work of Robert Bums Woodward. He has also published popular articles about the history of chemistry in... 

The book covers a wide range of topics within the field of polymer physics, beginning with a brief history of the development of synthetic polymers and an overview of the methods of polymerisation and processing. In the following chapter, David Bower describes important experimental techniques used in the study of polymers. The main part of the book, however, is devoted to the structure and properties of solid polymers, including blends, copolymers and liquid-crystal polymers. 

Although nylon was far from being the first synthetic polymer, the way it was marketed constitutes part of an important development that binds the history of chemistry to the history of our modern consumer society. Thanks to the history of these polymers, which continues right into the twenty-first century, we can trace a series of complex yet highly significant... 

Our purpose in this introduction is not to trace the history of polymer chemistry beyond the sketchy version above, instead, the objective is to introduce the concept of polymer chains which is the cornerstone of all polymer chemistry. In the next few sections we shall introduce some of the categories of chains, some of the reactions that produce them, and some aspects of isomerism which multiply their possibilities. A common feature of all of the synthetic polymerization reactions is the random nature of the polymerization steps. Likewise, the twists and turns the molecule can undergo along the backbone of the chain produce shapes which are only describable as averages. As a consequence of these considerations, another important part of this chapter is an introduction to some of the statistical concepts which also play a central role in polymer chemistry. 

The discovery and development of polypropylene, the one genuinely new large tonnage thermoplastics material developed since World War II, forms part of what is arguably the most important episode in the history of polymer science. For many years it had been recognised that natural polymers were far more regular in their structure than synthetic polymers. Whilst there had been some improvement in controlling molecular architecture, the man-made materials, relative to the natural materials, were structurally crude. 

The history of dendrimer chemistry can be traced to the foundations laid down by Flory [34] over fifty years ago, particularly his studies concerning macro-molecular networks and branched polymers. More than two decades after Flory s initial groundwork (1978) Vogtle et al. [28] reported the synthesis and characterization of the first example of a cascade molecule. Michael-type addition of a primary amine to acrylonitrile (the linear monomer) afforded a tertiary amine with two arms. Subsequent reduction of the nitriles afforded a new diamine, which, upon repetition of this simple synthetic sequence, provided the desired tetraamine (1, Fig. 2) thus the advent of the iterative synthetic process and the construction of branched macromolecular architectures was at hand. Further growth of Vogtle s original dendrimer was impeded due to difficulties associated with nitrile reduction, which was later circumvented [35, 36]. This procedure eventually led to DSM s commercially available polypropylene imine) dendrimers. 

The history of polysulfides began over 150 years ago. In 1838 chemists in Switzedand reported that the reaction of chloraetherin (1,2-dichloroethane) with potassium polysulfide gaveambivalent a rubbery, intractable, high sulfur semisolid. Subsequently there were reports of similar products obtained by various methods, but the first useful products were developed from studies in the late 1920s. This led to the formation of Thiokol Corp. which began production of the ethylene tetrasulfide polymer Thiokol A in 1928, the first synthetic elastomer manufactured commercially in the United States. One of the first successful applications of Thiokol A [14807-96-6] was for seals where its resistance to solvents justified its relatively high price. 

Smart materials such as these illustrate an important technological direction for materials science the design of materials with sophisticated properties that behave more like biological systems. Let s briefly recap our history. In Chapter 4 we noted a significant period of discovery when people modified natural polymers to improve their properties. We can call this period, roughly before 1900, Stage 1, and it asked the question, How can I improve upon nature This was followed by a century of synthetic polymer science in which... 

As pointed out in the preceding section, a second route for developing fibers having properties approaching the ultimate is the use of polymer chains that have high intrinsic stiffness and will remain extended in solution or melt. The development of aramid organic fibers based on aromatic polyamides met these requirements and added another chapter to the history of the development of synthetic fibers. Nomex aramid, a thermally resistant fiber based on a meta-oriented structure, was commercialized by the DuPont company in 1962. 

Natural bloactive polymers are essential to life and Include the proteins, nucleic acids and polysaccharides. Synthetic bioactive polymers are a more recent development but hundreds of possible examples have been reported with potential biological activity. In this brief, introductory review, the history, philosophy, mode of activity and the advantages of bloactive polymers are discussed emphasizing synthetic polymers. 

Within the specific context of this chapter, renewable resources represent the obvious answer to the quest for macromolecular materials capable of replacing their fossil-based counterparts [2, 3]. This is not as original as it sounds, because, apart from the role of natural polymers throughout our history evoked above, the very first synthetic polymer commodities, developed during the second half of the nineteenth century, namely cellulose esters, vulcanized natural rubber, rosin derivatives, terpene resins , were all derived from renewable resources. What is new and particularly promising, has to do with the growing momentum that this... 

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