WHO INVENTED THE PLASTIC?
The invention of Bakelite, a mixture of phenol and formaldehyde considered by chemists to be the first plastic in history, and the initiator of all the madness of multipurpose and multiform objects. For many, plastic is the most revolutionary material ever devised by humans.
Despite the problems due to its almost zero capacity to biodegrade, undoubtedly its ductility, its reduced cost and its asylating properties make it impossible to imagine, today, life without it. But who invented it?
Leo Hendrik Baekeland
Leo Hendrik Baekeland, was born in Ghent, Belgium, on November 14, 1863.
He studied at the University of Ghent and the Polytechnic of Charlotteburg, Germany, and taught chemistry in Belgium; in 1889 he traveled to the United States on his honeymoon and settled as an independent consulting engineer. Over time I take the American nationality.
The migration was inspired by Benjamín Franklin's autobigraphy and by an offer to serve as advisor to the New York Photographic Company A. and H.T. Anthony (after Ansco). He patented a dry plate that could be revealed in water. He founded together with Leonard Jacobi the company Nepara Chemical, to produce photosensitive paper (Velox), selling the manufacturer and the rights to G. Eastman in 1899, for the Eastman Kodak company, for one million dollars.
In 1909 he invented Bakelite, a cheap plastic, non-flammable and versatile amen popular that marked the beginning of the "era of plastic".
Its unique qualities for the time, allowed to mix it, heat it and then model it. The word Bakelite is an eponym in homage to its creator Baekeland.
What I was looking for was to solve a problem of chemical synthesis, through a synthetic material to supply the hawksbill of animal origin, research that had started since 1904.
Bakelite was the first in a series of synthetic resins that revolutionized modern economics and technological life by initiating the "era of plastic"; It was hard and resistant to heat and the action of acids and enjoyed multiple applications.
He organized the Bakelite General Company in 1910 and was its president until 1939, when it was acquired by Union Carbon and Carbide; as president of the British subsidiary, he named the inventor James Swinburne in 1916, who had developed exactly the same formula one day behind Baekeland.
Thanks to the success of Bakelite, he became a billionaire and was on the cover of Time Magazine on December 22, 1924. He received the Franklin Medal in 1940. He is the author of the book Some aspects of industrial chemistry.
He died of a brain hemorrhage in a hospital in New York on February 23, 1944. His funerals were held on February 25 of that year.
In the list of the 100 most important events of the twentieth century prepared by "The Freedom Forum Newseum Inc" Arlington of the United States this event is located at number 46. Baekeland integrates the Gallery of Fame of Inventors in North America.
