Nylon Parachutes and nylons Polymers Commentary

Wallace Carothers materials science

Nylon

• In 1928, DuPont wooed Corothers from Harvard
• to work at their Experimental Station
• on the synthesis of heavy polymers
• with the hope of producing synthetic materials.
• In 1930, Arnold Collins on Corother’s staff
• isolated chloroprene, the liquid precursor
• to the first synthetic rubber, Neoprene.
• Carothers developed the theory for polymerizing
• condensation polymers such as polyesters and polyamides.
• In 1934 Corothers started working with polyamides,
• which were more stable than polyesters,
• with the hope of producing a synthetic silk.
• In 1935 Gerard Berchet on Corother’s staff
• produced a small amount of polyamide 6-6,
• which became known as Nylon.

Parachutes and nylons

• Before World War II,
• parachutes were made with Asian silk and hemp,
• tents and ropes were made of hemp or cotton,
• fishing line was made of silk or horsehair,
• toothbrush bristles were plucked from horse or boar,
• and guitar strings were made of catgut.
• DuPont introduced nylon stockings
• at the 1939 New York World’s Fair,
• and, during the forties, stockings and pantyhose
• came to be known as nylons.
• Before the war, most nylon fibers
• were made into stockings.
• During the war, women donated their nylons
• to be melted down and respun
• to make parachutes for the war effort.

Polymers

• cellulose
• shellac
• amber
• wool
• silk
• rubber
• Bakelite
• Lucite^®
• Butacite^®
• Corian^®
• Rayon
• Freon^®
• Nylon
• Dacron^®
• Orlon^®
• Teflon^®
• Zylon^®
• Spandex^®
• Kevlar^®
• Tyvek^®
• Neoprene
• Newon^☺
• Bestiff^☺
• Funnable^☺
• Joyite^☺
• Hopelar^☺
• Loveine^☺