Category Chemistry

Why is bakelite a material of thousand uses?

           Bakelite is a thermosetting plastic which shows high resistance to heat, electricity and chemical agents. It can be easily moulded into any shape and dyed into any colour. It is widely used to make insulating bushes, sockets for electric bulbs and other non-conducting parts of electrical appliances because of the electrical insulation it provides.

           It is used to make scores of products like clocks, radios, telephones, kitchenware, tableware, jewellery boxes, pipes, buttons, cameras, lamps, chess sets, billiard balls, and jewellery. Moreover, it is cheap and affordable. No wonder, it is called a material of thousand uses.

           Bakelite changed the trends in fashion too. Bakelite jewellery was highly sought-after in the 1920s as it offered an affordable and attractive replacement for other materials. It also played a role in World War I and II as it was used to make a lot of war materials.

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Who discovered the first synthetic plastic?

           Leo Baekeland started working with polymers to make money and he did make a lot of money, even before he discovered the first synthetic plastic. By then, he had already developed Velox photographic film, which made him rich.

           He later devoted his efforts to develop a substitute for shellac, a resin obtained from the shells of Asian lac beetles.

           After a lot of trials and errors, he finally succeeded in making a resin from phenol and formaldehyde, thus making the first ever synthetic plastic. It was cheaper than celluloid and had better properties. This thermosetting material could be easily moulded into different shapes as well. He called this substance ‘bakelite’.

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How did celluloid create history?

           Apart from resembling ivory, celluloid has other amazing properties as well. Celluloid is a permanent, hard solid at normal temperatures and when heated, it becomes soft and could be moulded or rolled into sheets. Because of these, it was used to make a wide range of products.

           By the 1880s, celluloid was used as a substitute for linen. It was used to make detachable collars and cuffs for men’s clothing. Photography wouldn’t have been possible if not for celluloid. 1n1882, John H. Stevens discovered that celluloid could be diluted using amyl acetate. He was working as a chemist at the Celluloid Manufacturing Company then.

           Diluting celluloid produced a clear, flexible film. Researchers like Henry Reichenbach of the Eastman Kodak Company further processed it into film for still photography. It was later used to make motion pictures.

           These films were inflammable and would discolour with age. But they remained the medium for motion pictures till the invention of cellulose-acetate safety film in the 930s.

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How is billiards connected to the invention of celluloid?

           Billiards was a fashionable sport in Britain during the Victorian era. Many of the rich people used fine billiard balls crafted out of ivory to flaunt their wealth. The game was a status symbol!

           A billiard ball has to have certain physical properties. It has to rebound properly and has to be of a certain density. Ivory was the best material for that. To make fine ivory balls, elephants across Asia and Africa were hunted down, which affected the species. The shortage of ivory increased as the number of elephants went down. This created a crisis; finely crafted billiard balls became a rarity.

           People soon began their search for a worthy substitute for ivory. In fact, a billiard-ball manufacturer from New York offered 10,000 dollars to the person who could create one. John Wesley Hyatt won the prize. He made celluloid, a semi-synthetic polymer by modifying cellulose. Alexander Parkes was the one who managed to produce the first material that resembled ivory. He made a substance called Parkesine, but it was not a commercial success.

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What are the benefits of using biopolymers?

           All polymers that are obtained from nature are known as biopolymers and they have several features that are eco-friendly. There are also man-made biopolymers that retain the properties of natural biopolymers. Biopolymers are renewable and sustainable.

           Biopolymers reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They are biodegradable; they can be broken down to carbon dioxide and water by microorganisms. Most of them are compostable as well. Thus, the chances of them polluting the environment are very less. Due to this, they are produced in large quantities and used for the production of plastics.

           Based on their structure, biopolymers can be classified into three – long nucleotide polymers called polynucleotides, short polymers of amino acids called polypeptides and linear chains of carbohydrates called polysaccharides.

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Who invented erasers?

           Before the discovery of erasers, wet bread crumbs were used widely for erasing. Imagine going to school with a packet of wet bread-crumbs. It would be funny.

          Edward Nairne, a British engineer once made a mistake while writing. He accidentally took a piece of rubber instead of bread crumbs to erase it and guess what? Rubber proved to be a better eraser. Thanks to Nairne’s mistake our school life has become easier. Every time you rub out your mistakes without a trace, just remember that your eraser was an accidental discovery.

           Joseph Priestley was the first one to discover the erasing properties of rubber, but Edward Nairne was the first to develop and market it.

            An eraser gets its common name ‘rubber’ from the rubbing action. It works chemically, pretty much like a sticky magnet. When it is rubbed over the writing, the graphite particles stick to the rubber, making erasing possible.

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