{"id":16891,"date":"2025-01-28T16:10:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T15:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/?p=16891"},"modified":"2026-10-13T16:17:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T14:17:51","slug":"bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/","title":{"rendered":"Bakelite: The Long Road to the World\u2019s First Fully Synthetic Plastic"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-white ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#Seemingly_Fit_Only_for_the_Sewer\" title=\"Seemingly Fit Only for the Sewer\">Seemingly Fit Only for the Sewer<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#A_Surgeon_Finds_a_Use\" title=\"A Surgeon Finds a Use\">A Surgeon Finds a Use<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#Coke_and_Tar\" title=\"Coke and Tar\">Coke and Tar<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#A_Glimmer_of_Hope\" title=\"A Glimmer of Hope\">A Glimmer of Hope<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#Dyes_from_Coal_Tar\" title=\"Dyes from Coal Tar\">Dyes from Coal Tar<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#Phenol_and_Formaldehyde_Early_Experiments_with_Phenolic_Resins\" title=\"Phenol and Formaldehyde: Early Experiments with Phenolic Resins\">Phenol and Formaldehyde: Early Experiments with Phenolic Resins<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#L_H_Baekelands_Decisive_Step_The_Discovery_and_Patenting_of_Bakelite\" title=\"L. H. Baekeland\u2019s Decisive Step: The Discovery and Patenting of Bakelite\">L. H. Baekeland\u2019s Decisive Step: The Discovery and Patenting of Bakelite<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#What_Is_Bakelite\" title=\"What Is Bakelite?\">What Is Bakelite?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#A_Little_More_Chemistry\" title=\"A Little More Chemistry\">A Little More Chemistry<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/bakelite-first-fully-synthetic-plastic\/#%E2%80%A6_and_What_Came_Next\" title=\"\u2026 and What Came Next?\">\u2026 and What Came Next?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>In 1911, a new journal on the production and use of refined or chemically manufactured materials appeared. Its editor, Ernst Richard Escales (1863\u20131924), wrote that chemists had \u201cat last succeeded in producing artificial dyes, medicines and fragrances\u201d. These differed in composition from natural products, yet matched or even surpassed them in effect. The same could have been said of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/en\/tubes-hoses\/tubings-and-pipes-made-of-rigid-plastics\">plastics<\/a>, materials made in the laboratory. The road to the first technically usable plastic, however, was long and rocky. Read on to learn how this history unfolded and how it led to Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Seemingly_Fit_Only_for_the_Sewer\"><\/span>Seemingly Fit Only for the Sewer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In 1834, Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge (1794\u20131867) isolated a previously unknown compound from coal tar. It forms needle-shaped crystals that melt at just above +40 \u00b0C (+104 \u00b0F) and dissolve in water. It also has a penetrating \u201cchemical smell\u201d. Runge named it \u201ccarbolic acid\u201d. In 1841, the Frenchman Auguste Laurent (1807\u20131853) isolated it in pure form and determined its molecular formula, C<sub>6<\/sub>H<sub>6<\/sub>O. Shortly afterwards, in 1843, the Alsatian chemist Charles Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Gerhardt (1816\u20131856) obtained it by pyrolysing salicylic acid. He gave the compound the name \u201cphenol\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Scientific and commercial interest soon faded, however, because phenol seemed to have little practical use. At best, it could reduce the stench of sewers and waste water. A few cities, such as Paris, did use it for this purpose.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Surgeon_Finds_a_Use\"><\/span>A Surgeon Finds a Use<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It fell to the English surgeon Joseph Lister (1827\u20131912) to draw fresh attention to phenol. Lister worked at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and championed hospital hygiene.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7485\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7485\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7485\" title=\"Joseph Lister\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Joseph-Lister.jpg\" alt=\"Joseph Lister\" width=\"300\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Joseph-Lister.jpg 742w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Joseph-Lister-223x300.jpg 223w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7485\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><center>The English surgeon Joseph Lister (1827\u20131912) is regarded as the \u201cfather of antiseptic surgery\u201d<\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Lister recognised the antibacterial action of phenol. He also saw it as the reason why phenol suppressed odours in the sewers of Carlisle. After many experiments, some of them on himself, he introduced a new routine for surgical operations in 1865. Surgeons disinfected their hands, the surgical site and their instruments with an aqueous phenol solution. Antiseptic wound care with phenol-soaked dressings also goes back to Lister. It entered medical history as \u201cLister\u2019s dressing\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Medical Department of the Royal Prussian Ministry of War later recommended a 2.2 % solution of phenol in water. This \u201ccarbolic water\u201d served for hand and surface disinfection in cases of typhoid fever. Hospitals and households continued to use it as a disinfectant until fairly recently.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Coke_and_Tar\"><\/span>Coke and Tar<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Meanwhile, iron production had been gathering pace since the 18th century as industrialisation advanced across Europe. Demand for charcoal rose steadily as a result. Entire regions lost most of their forests, and not only in Germany.<\/p>\n<div class=\"box note  \"><div class=\"box-inner-block\"><i class=\"fa tie-shortcode-boxicon\"><\/i>\n\t\t\tBefore long, the traditional charcoal burners could barely keep up with demand.\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In England, the Darby family of ironmasters had looked far ahead. As early as 1709, Abraham Darby I (1678\u20131717) used England\u2019s plentiful coal instead of charcoal to smelt iron ore. As in charcoal making, he heated the coal in the absence of air. At temperatures around +1000 \u00b0C (+1,832 \u00b0F), this produced coke suitable for the blast furnace. His son Abraham Darby II (1711\u20131763) refined the process from the mid-18th century onwards.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Coke-fired blast furnaces then spread across England in the second half of the 18th century. In Germany, the Upper Silesian ironworks in Malapane near Oppeln (<strong>today Ozimek near Opole, Poland<\/strong>) followed in 1789. However, it used coal coke only on a trial basis. In 1796, the Royal Prussian ironworks in Gleiwitz (<strong>today Gliwice<\/strong>) switched its blast furnaces to coke for good. In the Ruhr, the Friedrich-Wilhelms-H\u00fctte in M\u00fclheim first charged a blast furnace with coke in 1849. Yet in the nearby Essen coalfield, producers had been coking coal for gas since 1816.<\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/en\/tubes-hoses\/tubing-made-of-elastomers-soft-rubber\/epdm-tubing\/28496\/epdm-chemical-tubing\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7522 size-full\" title=\"EPDM chemical hose\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EPDM-Chemieschlauch.jpg\" alt=\"EPDM chemical hose\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EPDM-Chemieschlauch.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/EPDM-Chemieschlauch-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/en\/tubes-hoses\/tubing-made-of-elastomers-soft-rubber\/silicone-tubing\/28684\/silicone-chemical-tubing-standard\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7523 size-full\" title=\"Silicone chemical hose - standard\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Silikon-Chemieschlauch-Standard.jpg\" alt=\"Silicone chemical hose standard\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Silikon-Chemieschlauch-Standard.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Silikon-Chemieschlauch-Standard-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/center><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Coal coke had now become firmly established in the iron industry and had fully replaced charcoal. At the same time, coking released ever larger quantities of phenol with the coal tar. How to put it to good use remained an open question.<\/p>\n<div class=\"box info  \"><div class=\"box-inner-block\"><i class=\"fa tie-shortcode-boxicon\"><\/i>\n\t\t\tIn the second half of the 19th century, scientists inevitably turned back to phenol, the unwelcome by-product of coke production.\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">They began a systematic search for a suitable application.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Glimmer_of_Hope\"><\/span>A Glimmer of Hope<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The chemist Hermann Kolbe (1818\u20131884) set an important milestone with a process for synthesising salicylic acid from phenol. Jakob Friedrich Wilhelm von Heyden (1838\u20131926) developed this process to industrial maturity. A chemist himself, von Heyden founded the world\u2019s first industrial pharmaceutical company in Radebeul near Dresden in 1874.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Salicylic acid is the precursor of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), <strong>the active ingredient in aspirin<\/strong>. ASA reduces fever, relieves pain and inhibits inflammation. It also prevents blood platelets from clumping together. Thanks to this broad spectrum of effects, ASA remains an ingredient in many medicines to this day. Yet it would take some time before Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, came into being.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Dyes_from_Coal_Tar\"><\/span>Dyes from Coal Tar<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In 1856, the English chemist William Henry Perkin (1838\u20131907) synthesised the first commercially successful synthetic dye from aniline. Like phenol, aniline is a coal tar product. The violet dye, known as mauveine or aniline purple, gave cotton and silk a brilliant colour.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the 1860s, the chemist Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer (1835\u20131917) investigated the chemical structure of indigo. He aimed to produce the blue dye of the indigo plant by chemical synthesis. This would make costly imports from India unnecessary. Indigo had been a coveted textile dye since antiquity. By 1878, von Baeyer had elucidated the chemical structure of indigo. He had also demonstrated several routes for synthesising the dye.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7487\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7487\" style=\"width: 219px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7487 size-full\" title=\"Adolf von Baeyer\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Adolf-von-Baeyer.jpg\" alt=\"Adolf von Baeyer\" width=\"219\" height=\"289\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7487\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><center>The German chemist Adolf von Baeyer (c. 1893)<\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In 1882, he presented a synthesis route aimed at the chemical industry. He had developed it with his private assistant, the Dane Viggo Beutner Drewsen (1858\u20131930). Industrial production of synthetic indigo, however, only began in 1897 at BASF, using a different route. In 1905, von Baeyer received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, partly in recognition of his work on dyes. Perkin\u2019s success in obtaining a dye from tar had not escaped his notice.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Phenol_and_Formaldehyde_Early_Experiments_with_Phenolic_Resins\"><\/span>Phenol and Formaldehyde: Early Experiments with Phenolic Resins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<div class=\"box success  \"><div class=\"box-inner-block\"><i class=\"fa tie-shortcode-boxicon\"><\/i>\n\t\t\tDevoted to dye chemistry, von Baeyer therefore also began to experiment with phenol.\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In 1871, he synthesised phenolphthalein, a triphenylmethane dye, from phenol and phthalic anhydride. However, it proved unsuitable for dyeing textiles. Reacting phenol with formaldehyde brought no success either. Formaldehyde is a reactive gas that dissolves readily in water. The Russian chemist Alexander M. Butlerov (1828\u20131886) first prepared it in St Petersburg in 1859. August Wilhelm Hofmann (1818\u20131892) later discovered how to obtain it by dehydrogenating methanol. This made larger quantities available. Yet the polycondensation of phenol and formaldehyde always yielded nothing but amber-coloured, malleable resinous masses. Von Baeyer saw no practical use for them.<\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/de\/schlauchverbinder\/verbinder-aus-kunststoff\/luer-lock-verbinder\/luer-lock-schlauchadapter-maennlich-fuer-weiche-schlaeuche\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7527 size-full\" title=\"Luer lock hose adapter (male) for soft hoses\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/luer-lock-schlauchadapter-maennlich-fuer-weiche-schlaeuche.jpg\" alt=\"luer-lock-hose-adapter-male-for-soft-hoses\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/luer-lock-schlauchadapter-maennlich-fuer-weiche-schlaeuche.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/luer-lock-schlauchadapter-maennlich-fuer-weiche-schlaeuche-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/de\/befestigungselemente\/schrauben\/zylinderschrauben\/zylinderschraube-din-84-aus-pa-mit-schlitz\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-7528 size-full\" title=\"Cheese head screw (DIN 84) made of PA - slotted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/zylinderschraube-din-84-aus-pa-mit-schlitz.jpg\" alt=\"cheese-head-screw-din-84-made-of-pa-slotted\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/zylinderschraube-din-84-aus-pa-mit-schlitz.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/zylinderschraube-din-84-aus-pa-mit-schlitz-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/center><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Other research groups in Germany reached similar results, among them the group around Fritz Raschig (1863\u20131928). They worked on reacting phenol with formaldehyde until around the turn of the century. Pursuing the reaction of phenol and aldehyde any further seemed pointless.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The chemist Carl Heinrich Meyer (1873\u20131945) was the exception. In 1902, he still filed a patent for a phenol-formaldehyde resin as a substitute for shellac. Shellac is a natural resin secreted by lac insects and harvested in Thailand and India. Louis Blumer\u2019s chemical factory in Zwickau, Saxony, produced and marketed the synthetic product as \u201cLaccain\u201d. It failed to convince, however. It was not lightfast and smelled persistently of phenol. Production was therefore soon discontinued.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"L_H_Baekelands_Decisive_Step_The_Discovery_and_Patenting_of_Bakelite\"><\/span>L. H. Baekeland\u2019s Decisive Step: The Discovery and Patenting of Bakelite<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At around the same time, the chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863\u20131944) was searching for a new material. He needed a readily available, stable insulator for electrical wiring. Born in Ghent, Belgium, Baekeland had held a professorship in chemistry there. In 1889, he emigrated to the United States. There he sold his patent for a photographic printing paper to the Eastman Kodak Company. The sale earned him a considerable fortune, enough to fund his own private research laboratory.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7489\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7489\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7489\" title=\"Leo Hendrik Baekeland\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Leo-Hendrik-Baekeland.jpg\" alt=\"Leo Hendrik Baekeland Bakelite\" width=\"300\" height=\"371\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Leo-Hendrik-Baekeland.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Leo-Hendrik-Baekeland-243x300.jpg 243w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Leo-Hendrik-Baekeland-768x948.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7489\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><center>The Belgian-American chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland (c. 1906)<\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">During his research, he came across many publications by European colleagues on the reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. Building on this work, Baekeland systematically varied the reaction parameters. He finally obtained a solid phenolic resin that no longer melts. The key to his success was \u201ccompression moulding\u201d, which cures the phenolic resin with heat under high pressure. This processing technique, still in use today, densely crosslinks the resin and fixes its shape irreversibly. At the same time, the pressure prevents the water released by the condensation reaction from forming bubbles in the material.<\/p>\n<div class=\"box note  \"><div class=\"box-inner-block\"><i class=\"fa tie-shortcode-boxicon\"><\/i>\n\t\t\tIn 1907, Baekeland filed a patent for the world\u2019s first fully synthetic plastic, which he named \u201cBakelite\u201d.\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">With his patented Bakelite, he beat the English engineer and inventor James Swinburne (1858\u20131958) by just one day. Swinburne had applied for a patent on an equivalent phenolic resin.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Is_Bakelite\"><\/span>What Is Bakelite?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Bakelite is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/what-are-thermosets-properties-and-applications\/\">thermoset<\/a>, <strong>known in German as Duroplast (from the Latin durus, \u201chard\u201d)<\/strong>. To this day, it has held its own in the wide range of plastics. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/en\/tubes-hoses\/tubing-made-of-elastomers-soft-rubber\">Polyurethanes<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/en\/epoxy-resin-production-applications-and-fields-of-use\/\">epoxy resins<\/a> also belong to the thermosets. Unlike many other plastics, however, Bakelite is flame-resistant and can withstand considerable thermal stress. Manufacturers usually colour it with opaque pigments. Added carbon black produces the familiar black colour.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7491\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7491\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7491\" title=\"Bakelite hairdryer\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Ein-Bakelit-Haartrockner-der-Marke-Solis-ca-1958.jpg\" alt=\"A Bakelite hairdryer by Solis (c. 1958)\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Ein-Bakelit-Haartrockner-der-Marke-Solis-ca-1958.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Ein-Bakelit-Haartrockner-der-Marke-Solis-ca-1958-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7491\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><center>A Bakelite hairdryer by Solis (c. 1958)<\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Bakelite soon found its way into handles, fittings, housings for electrical appliances, and covers for light switches and sockets. Jewellery followed, including imitation amber and ivory. Switch and socket covers, above all, are still made from Bakelite today. It offers excellent electrical insulation and high dielectric strength. Newer plastics have displaced Bakelite in many modern applications. Even so, it remains an iconic material of historical significance. Today, collectors and enthusiasts of vintage and retro objects prize it highly.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Little_More_Chemistry\"><\/span>A Little More Chemistry<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Put simply, phenol is a six-membered ring of carbon atoms, known as a benzene ring. Five of the carbon atoms each carry a hydrogen atom (\u2013H). The sixth carries a hydroxyl group (\u2013OH) instead. Further hydrogen atoms can also be replaced by \u2013OH groups.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7493\" title=\"Phenol\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/phenol.jpg\" alt=\"phenol Bakelite\" width=\"350\" height=\"426\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/phenol.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/phenol-247x300.jpg 247w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These compounds differ in the number of \u2013OH groups and in their positions on the benzene ring. Together, they form the group of phenols. Catechol, for example, has two directly adjacent \u2013OH groups. In resorcinol, one carbon atom separates the two \u2013OH groups. Pyrogallol carries three adjacent \u2013OH groups. Like \u201cordinary\u201d phenol, these compounds react with formaldehyde to form polymers. The products are phenolic resins such as Bakelite, also known as phenoplasts. Plastics and elastomers can be processed into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/en\/semi-finished-products\">semi-finished products<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/en\/tubes-hoses\">hoses<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/en\/fasteners\">fasteners<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/en\/seals-and-gaskets\">seals<\/a> and other moulded parts.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%A6_and_What_Came_Next\"><\/span>\u2026 and What Came Next?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Pure phenolic resins such as Bakelite are brittle and therefore sensitive to shock and impact. Fillers such as rock flour improve their mechanical properties considerably. So does pressing them together with other materials. There are few limits to the possibilities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Pressing synthetic resins with wood chips, mostly waste from woodworking, produces chipboard. Furniture makers and interior fitters use it widely. Most chipboard is bonded with urea-formaldehyde resin, while moisture-resistant grades use phenolic resins such as Bakelite. Incidentally, the German engineer Max Himmelheber (1904\u20132000) patented chipboard in 1932.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Simple printed circuit boards for electronic devices consist of paper layers pressed into boards with phenolic resins such as Bakelite. Copper foil laminated onto them forms the conductor tracks. The legendary Trabant was <strong>East Germany\u2019s<\/strong> best-known small car. For its body panels, the manufacturer pressed cotton nonwovens with phenolic resins under high pressure and heat. These panels replaced the usual deep-drawn sheet steel.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7497\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7497\" style=\"width: 440px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7497\" title=\"Trabant P50\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Trabant-P50-in-der-Standardausfuehrung-Produktionszeitraum-1958-1962.jpg\" alt=\"Trabant P50 in the standard version (produced 1958\u20131962) Bakelite\" width=\"440\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Trabant-P50-in-der-Standardausfuehrung-Produktionszeitraum-1958-1962.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Trabant-P50-in-der-Standardausfuehrung-Produktionszeitraum-1958-1962-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rct-online.de\/magazin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Trabant-P50-in-der-Standardausfuehrung-Produktionszeitraum-1958-1962-110x75.jpg 110w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7497\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><center>Trabant P50 in the standard version (produced 1958\u20131962)<\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Their modern successors are semi-finished fibre composites based on glass or carbon fibres and phenolic resins. Aircraft construction and space technology use them above all. Future developments will be well worth following.<\/p>\n<pre><strong>Image credits:<\/strong>\r\nFeatured image | \u00a9 Yio \u2013 stock.adobe.com\r\nBakelite hairdryer | \u00a9 Till Niermann, CC BY-SA 3.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=8926813\r\nPhenol | \u00a9 petrroudny \u2013 stock.adobe.com\r\nTrabant P50 | \u00a9 burts, CC BY-SA 3.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=818528<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1911, a new journal on the production and use of refined or chemically manufactured materials appeared. Its editor, Ernst Richard Escales (1863\u20131924), wrote that chemists had \u201cat last succeeded in producing artificial dyes, medicines and fragrances\u201d. These differed in composition from natural products, yet matched or even surpassed them in effect. The same could &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3028,3029],"tags":[4427,4426,4429,4430,3868,3248,4428,3452,3449],"class_list":["post-16891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-alle-beitraege-en","category-werkstoffe-in-der-chemie-en","tag-bakelite","tag-epoxy-resins","tag-formaldehyde","tag-phenol-en","tag-plastics","tag-polyurethane-plastics","tag-synthetic-plastic","tag-thermoplastics","tag-thermosets"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bakelite: All About the First Fully Synthetic Plastic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bakelite: the long road from by-product phenol to the first fully synthetic plastic \u2192 History \u2705 Synthesis \u2705 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