Belgian-born American chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland discovered a flexible and heat-resistant plastic type he named Bakelite in 1907. This has earned him the title of “Father of the Plastics Industry”.
People who made their tools out of stone for thousands of years started the Bronze Age by learning about copper alloys. Centuries later, the Iron Age continued the process. In 1907, Bakelite, the world's first synthetic plastic, marked the beginning of the Polymer Age.
Southeast Asian farmers protected their wood materials with the secretions of a small insect. The natural resin that lacquer beetles make with their excrement on the tree is 'shellac'.
Shellac, which was used very much at the beginning of the 20th century, was obtained from a small insect called "tachardia lacca". Besides being used for purposes such as odor blocking; It was the main ingredient of yellow lacquer, furniture polish and many other necessities of daily life.
Again, at the beginning of the 20th century, when the electric age began, a crisis of insulators began to cover all the cables. Shellac produced by insects was insufficient. Based on this, it can be said that; The main factor that encouraged chemists to make plastics was the invention of electricity.
Hoping to take advantage of the resulting shortage of shellac, Leo Baekeland began experimenting with soluble resins in 1906. It produced a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac called "Novolak", but this did not achieve a commercial market success.
But Leo Baekeland was already a pretty wealthy man when he studied his chemical reactions in his lab. So how?
Water of the Mill: Velox Photo Paper
Leo Baekeland's youthful curiosity led him to photography. He worked on a new photographic paper that he had been considering for years. Back then, movies were printed in the sun. This meant that the movie was dependent on the weather. He obtained a silver chloride that is very sensitive to yellow rays. In this way, photographs could be bathed in artificial light whatever the weather.
Baekeland named this new photo paper “Velox” and started production after patenting it.
In 1899 he received a recommendation from "Eastman-Kodak". On the way to his job interview, he thought he would definitely not work for less than $25,000 a year. Eastman's offer was $1 million. All of a sudden, Baekeland was a fairly wealthy person at the age of thirty-six. And now he could devote himself to what he really wanted to do. He started working in a field that would make him famous around the world - namely resins.
After Baekeland experimented with 'novolak', he began experimenting with reinforcing wood by impregnating it with a synthetic resin rather than coating it. Using a steam-pressure tool, Baekeland mixed phenol and formaldehyde at the right pressure and temperature to produce a rigid moldable material he named himself. Bakelite..
Baekeland's 'Bakelite' formed the mold for the modern plastics industry.
Bakelite, which is not affected by heat and is flexible, has earned him the title of "Father of the Plastic Industry". Leo H. Baekeland, Time Magazine's ”20. He is ranked 6th in the list of "100 Most Important People of the 20th Century".
Bakelite was patented on December 7, 1909. It was seen in electrical insulators, radio-telephone housings, kitchen utensils, jewelry, pipe handles, children's toys and many more and was a constant presence in the technological infrastructure. Bakelite was revolutionary with its widening range from automotive to pharmaceutical industry, from electronic devices to packaging production.
Bakelite Corporation used the mathematical symbol of infinity as its logo and "Material of A Thousand and One Uses" as its slogan. 'A Thousand and One Uses' has become the marvelous product of the emerging new industrial world. Bakelite kitchen products, which are both non-porous and heat resistant, were introduced as germ-free and sterilizable.
Unfortunately, firearms are also counted in the usage area of bakelite. The "retro" appeal of Bakelite products made them collectible. During the Second World War, more than 4.5 million kilograms of plastic were used in the weapons industry annually.
Leo Baekeland, who died in 1944; For the rest of his life, he believed that science was for the benefit of the people, no matter how warmakers took advantage of it.