If It Were ONLY That Simple

Sorry for the gap in posts, as the semester has ramped up, my time for this activity has been siphoned toward other tasks.  In an effort to make up for this fact, I turned to the internet for a good quote. In a letter to George Washington on May 16, 1792, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Delay is Preferable to Error." 

** Side-Note**  I thought this quote would be a good excuse for this delay in posting.  I wanted it to be just right. In finding this quote nearly everywhere on the internet, I have yet to figure out the context.  People seemed to have quoted it in law briefs, blogs, and nearly every quote site out there, but I don't know.  Construction of the White House (not known by that name at the time) was started.  Perhaps it was telling him to check-over the blueprints one more time to spare change-orders with the contractor, but that is just my guess.  I am curious. SO, if anyone of you has some insight, please submit it in the comments.

Back to the blog:

"Plastics," says Mr. McGuire. "There is a great future in Plastics."  Even in 1967 that was great advice.  It is like saying, "it's the economy stupid" and then not talking about the innumerable minutia that drive the economy.    Assuming one person, business, or theory is the perfect way to fix an economy is like saying the only plastic is Bakelite!  Oh, but we have come so far from that wonder material of art deco fame. We have plastics that glow, plastics that blow, plastics that flow, and even plastics that mow.  That said, maybe Bakelite is a good place to start, it only gets more exciting from there.

Good Enough to Eat Off Of...

Bakelite is one of those materials that seems so innocuous, but it changed the world as we know it.  It was developed by Leo Bakeland in 1907 and was one of the first easily moldable thermoset plastics.  This is a great article describing the history. It was the first molecule named by the American Chemical Society as a national chemical landmark in 1993.   Now, the essence of this discovery is that one could shape it into nearly any shape and when it was done reacting, it was "chemical resistant" (did not dissolve with solvents or react with many types of chemicals) and a good electrical insulator. Prior to its invention, almost all transmission lines used glass or ceramic insulators.  One bad hail storm and... smash!

Here is an excerpt from the book Napoleon's Buttons: (Napoleons Buttons By Le Couteur, Penny M./ Burreson, Jay (Google Affiliate Ad))



It also allowed for other objects to be made of different shapes and sizes. This made the perfect material for knife handles, rotary telephones, and most importantly jewelry!

Bakelite gets its properties from reacting phenols (benzene rings attached to oxygen and hydrogen) with formaldehyde.  This links the molecules together in long chains or polymers "many-units" a term often used synonymously with "plastic," but it is a bit more nuanced.  By linking these molecules with different properties, you get a connected network of very stable molecules, with a flexible linker.


This concept, linking molecules of one type with molecules that have different physical properties is something used even to this day.  Combining properties of some molecules with others (an approach currently being used to develop the next generation of solar cells, solar cells, and light emitting diodes as well as new filters) gives access to a multitude of properties that are not available to either of the molecules independently.

There current polymers have yet to gain the same properties as the current state-of-the-art materials in some fields.  If Bakelite was any indication of the possibilities unleashed once that point is reached, we are in for a treat in the next 50 years.  For polymers (and perhaps even the economy), there is still much work to be done, but once we get it figured out we have a bright future ahead.