1825 - Michael Faraday
During experiments in his laboratory, the British chemist and physicist Michael Faraday discovers benzene which later becomes the starting material for many plastics.
1826 - Otto Unverdorben
The pharmacist Otto Unverdorben discovers aniline, a liquid decomposition product of indigo. It later becomes an important basic material for many dyes and plastics.
1828 - Friedrich Wöhler
By synthesizing inorganic ammonium cyanate, Friedrich Wöhler produces the organic urea.
1838 - Victor Regnault
Victor Regnault produces the gaseous vinyl chloride in the laboratory. He observes that a white powder, polyvinyl chloride, is formed from the gaseous substance during prolonged exposure to sunlight.
1861 - Alexander Parkes
Alexander Parkes patents the material he invented, "Parkesine". Parkesine is a cellulose nitrate-based material and the precursor of the well-known celluloid.
1865 - Kekulé von Stradonitz
Kekulé von Stradonitz establishes the ring-shaped benzene formula. With this he establishes the modern organic chemistry.
1869 - John Wesley Hyatt
John Wesley Hyatt begins commercial marketing of celluloid. He developed a method for processing collodion wool (= pyroxyline) under pressure. The result was a cellulose nitrate, which was plasticized with camphor and alcohol. Hyatt became known as the first successful manufacturer of plastics.
1872 - Adolf Ritter von Bayer
Adolf Ritter succeeds in the polycondensation of phenol and formaldehyde.
1897 - Adolph Spitteler, W. Kirsche
The two Bavarian chemists Spitteler and Kirsche develop casein (artificial horn) from milk serum and formaldehyde.
1905 - Jacques E. Brandenberger
Swiss chemist Jacques E. Brandenberger invents cellophane. In 1908 Brandenberger registered a patent for the continuous production of cellophane film made of viscose.
1910 - Leo Hendrik Baekeland
Baekeland and Rütgers AG jointly found Bakelite GmbH near Berlin. There they start the first industrial production of fully synthetic plastic, phenolic resin.
1912 - Fritz Klatte
Fritz Klatte clarifies the polymerization of vinyl chloride (PVC) which Victor Regnault accidentally discovered in 1938 (see above). Together with E. Zacharias he creates the basis for the technical production of vinyl chloride from acetylene and hydrogen chloride. In 1913 Klatte granted the first patent for the polymerization of vinyl chloride. The industrial production of PVC then began in Bitterfeld in 1938.
1926 - Hermann Staudinger
Hermann Staudinger founded the macromolecular chemistry. Staudinger's idea that plastics consist of large molecules that are composed of numerous small molecules (theory of macromolecules) met with severe misunderstanding. Ultimately, it was only through the experiments of W.H. Carothers (see below) that proved the theory of the macromolecules. Staudinger's research results were therefore only recognized
decades later. In 1953, Staudinger was even awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
1926 - Eckert & Ziegler GmbH
In 1926, Eckert & Ziegler GmbH from Weissenburg in Bavaria launches the first industrially manufactured injection molding machine onto the market.
1928 - Otto Röhm
During experiments in the laboratory of his company Röhm and Haas, Otto Röhm develops artificial glass made of synthesized methyl metaacrylate (PMMA). Since 1933, he has been marketing the transparent sheets under the brand name PLEXIGLAS®.
1930 - IG-Farben
Further development of high-pressure technology facilitates the production of various synthetic substances. At the former BASF in Ludwigshafen, for example, the company succeeded in the polymerization of styrene (PS) and the production of synthetic rubber (NBR), known as BUNA®.
1935 - Wallace H. Carothers
At DuPont de Nemours in the USA, Wallace H. Carothers develops the material polyamide 6.6 (PA 6.6), also called NYLON. In 1938, DuPont starts the manufacture of nylon and manufactures textile fibers for, among other things, the so-called nylon stockings.
1937 - Otto Bayer
In the laboratories of IG-Farben in Leverkusen, Otto Bayer and his employees devote themselves to of rubber chemistry and develop polyaddition using diisocyanates to form polyurethane (PUR).
1937 - Paul Schlack
In the IGFarben laboratories, Paul Schlack is looking for resistant textile fibers and develops the polyamide 6 (PA 6) by polymerization of the e-caprolactam. This material becomes world-famous under the brand name PERLON®.
1938 - Roy J. Plunkett
Roy J. Plunkett discovers the polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) during experiments with refrigerants in the DuPont laboratories. DuPont has marketed this product under the name TEFLON® since the 1940s.
1939 - 1945
The Second World War favors the further development of plastics. Many developments are classified as important to the war effort or even secret in the countries involved. Various plastics, such as acrylic glass for cockpit glazing, are used primarily in aircraft construction. The war also leads to the destruction of the powerful IG-Farben.
1946 - Louis Stott
The American Louis Stott was the first to succeed in industrially processing polyamide 6.6 into semi-finished products. To market his products, he founds the POLYMER Corporation.
1953 - Karl W. Ziegler, Giulio Natta
Karl W. Ziegler and Giulio Natta develop a process for the polymerization of ethylene under low pressure. In this way, they created the preconditions for the industrial production of of polyethylene. Both received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work in 1963.
1958 - DuPont de Nemours
Based on the fundamental experiments of the chemist A. W. Hoffmann from 1869, DuPont de Nemours technicians develop a new plastic by polymerizing formaldehyde in the 1950s. The material is marketed under the brand name DELRIN® from 1958.
1960 ff. - different producers
With the 1960s, the development of new plastics increased rapidly. Companies like General Electric, now Sabic (plastics: PPO, PEI), Union Carbide (PSU), Phillips Petroleum (PPS), ICI Corporation - now Victrex (PEEK), DuPont (PI), Amoco - now Solvay (PAI, PPSU) or BASF (PEK) invent a variety of new, so called high performance plastics with properties that were previously only expected with metallic materials.
1978 - ICI Corporation
The high-temperature thermoplastic polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is developed in the laboratories of ICI Corporation. The company Victrex emerged from this development in 1993 through a management buy-out. Victrex makes PEEK the best known and most frequently high-performance plastic used after PTFE.
2000 - Alan J. Heeger, Alan G. MacDiarmid, Hideki Shirakawa
The three professors Heeger, MacDiarmid and Shirakawa are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry because of their research work on electrically conductive polymers. The invention of electrically conductive polymers succeeds in combining the electrical properties of metal with the flexibility of plastics.