The History Of Plastic Bags

Cybertron found the plasticity of nitrocellulose, and the things it made were still impervious. He used it to make some beautiful rice bowls, cups, bottles and teapots. He admired his masterpieces and wrote a letter to his friend, the famous scientist Faraday. Unfortunately, Faraday did not care until a photographer appeared. Photographer Alexander Parks has many hobbies, and photography is one of them. In the 19th century, people were not able to buy ready-made photographic film and chemicals as they did today, and they must often make what they needed. So every photographer must also be a chemist.

The "ancestor" of this magical material is the most abundant cellulose in plants.

In 1845, when the chemist Sebtan, who lived in the city of Basel in the northwestern part of Switzerland, experimented at home, accidentally hit the table with concentrated sulfuric acid and concentrated nitric acid. He hurriedly picked up his wife's apron to wipe the table. Mixed acid. After the hectic, he hangs the apron on the stove and bakes it. Unexpectedly, the apron slams and burns, and instantly becomes ashes. Cybertron returned to the lab with this "significant discovery" and repeated "accidents". After many trials, Cybertron finally found the reason: the main component of the original apron was cellulose, which was in contact with a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid to form nitrocellulose ester, which was later widely used in nitrocellulose. .

One of the materials used in photography is "cotton", which is a "nitrocellulose" solution, that is, a solution of nitrate cellulose in alcohol and ether. It was used to glue photosensitive chemicals to glass to make an equivalent to today's photographic film.

In the 1950s, Parks looked at different ways to handle cotton. One day, he tried to mix the cotton with the camphor. To his surprise, the mixing produced a flexible material that was bendable. Parks called the substance "Paxin", which was the earliest plastic.

Parks used "Paxin" to make a variety of items: combs, pens, buttons and jewelry. However, Parks is not very business conscious and has lost money on his own business venture. In the 20th century, people began to explore new uses for plastics. Almost everything in the family can be made from some kind of plastic.

Continue to develop the results of Parks and profit from it and leave it to other inventors. John Wesley Hayat, a printer from New York, saw this opportunity in 1868, when a billiard-making company complained about a shortage of ivory. Hayat improved the manufacturing process and gave a new name for "Paxos" - "Civil" (false ivory). He got a ready-made market from billiards manufacturers and soon made a variety of products from plastic.

Early plastics were prone to fire, which limited the scope of products used to make them. The first plastic that can successfully withstand high temperatures is "Beckerett". Leo Beckland won the patent in 1909.

In 1909, Baeland of the United States first synthesized phenolic plastics. In the 1930s, nylon was introduced, and it was called "combined by coal, air and water, thinner than spider silk, harder than steel, and superior to silk." Their emergence laid the foundation for the invention and production of various plastics. Due to the development of the petrochemical industry in the Second World War, plastic raw materials replaced coal with oil, and the plastics manufacturing industry also developed rapidly.

Plastic is a very light substance that can be softened by heating at a very low temperature, and can be made into various shapes as desired. The plastic products are colorful, light in weight, not afraid of falling, economical and durable. Its appearance has not only brought convenience to people's lives, but also greatly promoted the development of industry.