40: Chain Gang
In this episode, we look at the rise of the Age of Plastics, with polymers from the 1920s and 1930s. We start with urea-formaldehyde resin from 1919, but before the true nature of polymers was clarified. We hear of Hermann Staudinger, who promoted the idea of macromolecules in the 1920s against significant resistance from European chemists. Thé Svedberg's ultracentrifuge gave credence to macromolecules. The rise of DuPont in the 1920s gave us the work of Wallace Carothers and his polymer group, which invented neoprene rubber, polyamide, the first polyester, and ultimately nylon. We learn of the simultaneous work by murderous firm I.G. Farben on synthetic rubbers to free Germany from dependence on latex: Buna, Buna-S, and Buna-N. We learn about hydrogen bonding, a discovery by an undergraduate, Maurice Huggins.
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