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Polymer Chemistry

Leo Baekeland and Bakelite
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: Polymer ChemistryEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1907YonkersState: NYCountry: USAWebsite: http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=924&content_id=WPCP_007586&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=d6432ada-458d-4c1a-aa4e-e703e3868638Creator: Baekeland, Leo

Around 1907, Belgian-born chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland took two ordinary chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde, mixed them in a sealed autoclave, and subjected them to heat and pressure.

The sticky, amber-colored resin he produced in his Yonkers laboratory was the first plastic ever to be created entirely from chemicals, and the first material to be made entirely by man.

Image Caption: Development of BakeliteEra_date_from: 1907
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Leo Baekeland and Bakelite

Around 1907, Belgian-born chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland took two ordinary chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde, mixed them in a sealed autoclave, and subjected them to heat and pressure.

The sticky, amber-colored resin he produced in his Yonkers laboratory was the first plastic ever to be…

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