Leo Baekeland (Biography)
Bakelite was invented by a Belgian born chemist named Leo Baekeland in 1908. Bakelite is a polymeric plastic made from mixing Carbolic acid with formaldehyde. Bakelite was named after its inventor Leo Baekeland. Leo Hendrik Baekeland was born on November 14 1863 in Ghent Belgium. From an early age on wards Baekeland was very bright and intelligent. He graduated from high school at the age of 16 and was first in his class. He received a scholarship to the University of Ghent and at the age of 21 he received his doctor's degree.
After completing his studies Baekeland travelled to United States on the basis of a fellowship. He worked for a photographic firm in New York.
In 1891, Baekeland invented Velox. The invention of Velox was a huge success for Baekeland, he sold his invention to George Eastman, owner of Kodak for one million dollars in 1899. With the money Baekeland opened his own laboratory in New York. Baekeland along with his assistant Nathaniel Thurlow started experimenting to find substitutes for many natural materials. Baekeland's first intention was to find a substitute for shellac. During his experiment he discovered that if pressure and temperature were carefully controlled then a polymer could be synthesized from phenol and formaldehyde. Baekeland then mixed Carbolic acid with formaldehyde and that formed a hard mouldable plastic called Bakelite. Baekeland invented Bakelite in 1907 though he publicly announced his invention in 1909. Baekeland acquired the franchise of Bakelite in 1909 and soon after that Bakelite became popular and was used in the production of many various products such as jewellery, radios, car parts, kitchenware and many more. Bakelite was convenient, affordable, and attractive and was a reliable material. Bakelite also replaced an earlier, more flammable form of plastic called celluloid. After the successful invention of Bakelite Baekeland started experiments to develop artificial substitutes for natural materials such as rubber and silk. Unfortunately Bakelite was Baekeland's last successful invention before his death. Leo Baekeland died on February 23, 1944 in United States.
After completing his studies Baekeland travelled to United States on the basis of a fellowship. He worked for a photographic firm in New York.
In 1891, Baekeland invented Velox. The invention of Velox was a huge success for Baekeland, he sold his invention to George Eastman, owner of Kodak for one million dollars in 1899. With the money Baekeland opened his own laboratory in New York. Baekeland along with his assistant Nathaniel Thurlow started experimenting to find substitutes for many natural materials. Baekeland's first intention was to find a substitute for shellac. During his experiment he discovered that if pressure and temperature were carefully controlled then a polymer could be synthesized from phenol and formaldehyde. Baekeland then mixed Carbolic acid with formaldehyde and that formed a hard mouldable plastic called Bakelite. Baekeland invented Bakelite in 1907 though he publicly announced his invention in 1909. Baekeland acquired the franchise of Bakelite in 1909 and soon after that Bakelite became popular and was used in the production of many various products such as jewellery, radios, car parts, kitchenware and many more. Bakelite was convenient, affordable, and attractive and was a reliable material. Bakelite also replaced an earlier, more flammable form of plastic called celluloid. After the successful invention of Bakelite Baekeland started experiments to develop artificial substitutes for natural materials such as rubber and silk. Unfortunately Bakelite was Baekeland's last successful invention before his death. Leo Baekeland died on February 23, 1944 in United States.
What Led to The Invention
Baekeland's first successful
invention was Velox, a paper that made it possible to develop photographic prints under artificial light. With the profit made by
selling Velox to Kodak, Baekeland built his own laboratory in New York.
Baekeland along with his assistant Nathaniel Thurlow started experimenting to
develop artificial substitutes for natural materials. Baekeland's first intention was to find a supersession for shellac, which at that time was made from the shells of oriental lac beetles. At that time chemists had commenced to perceive that many of the natural resins and fibres subsidiary for coatings, adhesives, woven fabrics were polymers. Baekeland first investigated the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde, producing a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac called Novolak which wasn't a market success. After the failure of Novolak Baekeland changed his focus from trying to create a wood coating to trying to strengthen wood by actually impregnating it with a synthetic resin. Baekeland then invented a polymer that when mixed with fillers it developed a hard mouldable plastic and named it Bakelite. Baekeland didn't intend to invent Bakelite at the start. Bakelite had lots of good features such as Bakelite is non- flammable, resistant to heat, would not conduct electricity, Bakelite is lightweight and enduring. Bakelite soon became accepted and found to have many uses in the electrical and automobile industries emerging in the 1900s. Baekeland publicly announced his successful invention 1909. Baekeland also invented a machine and named it Bakelizer. Bakelizer was used to produce large quantities of Bakelite. Bakelite replaced an early form of plastic called celluloid which was invented by an American inventor John Wesley Hyatt in 1870. Celluloid was highly inflammable. Before Bakelite celluloid was used to create many items such as hair combs, cheaper jewellery, hair accessories and many other items which earlier have been produced from ivory, horn or other expensive animal products.
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Bakelizer
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