Bakelite was the first thermosetting plastic. Bakelite is made from carbolic acid (phenol) and formaldehyde and is referred to as a phenolic resin. On February 5, 1909, New Yorker Leo Baekeland presented his invention of Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic, to the American Chemical Society.. Digging Deeper. 1908 - Cellophane - Invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger 1909 - First true plastic Phenol-Formaldehyde (trade name Bakelite) - Invented by Leo Hendrik Baekeland 1926 - Vinyl or PVC - Walter Semon invented a plasticized PVC This object is the original Bakelizer that Leo Baekeland had in his laboratory and discovered the invention of Bakelite. In 1892, Scottish scientist Sir James Dewar invented the vacuum flask. Bakeland discovered that the material would cool quickly and wouldn’t melt, regardless of the temperatures. Leo Baekeland didn't intend on inventing Bakelite. Bakelite, trademarked synthetic resin invented in 1907 by Belgian-born American chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland. To do this, Dewar placed a glass bottle in another larger glass bottle, and evacuated the air between the two bottle walls. The invention was an accident. That means once a Bakelite product is formed, it … The material was heated to a melting point and then poured into … Digging deeper, we find the Belgian-born Baekeland trying to invent a replacement for … Through his work in cryogenics, he identified a need to keep a chemical placed in a flask at a stable temperature. In 1907, American chemist Phelan Leo Baekeland invented a new plastic-like substance called Bakelite. As with celluloid, Bakelite was invented to replace a scarce natural substance: shellac, a product of the sticky excretions of the female lac beetle. 2. Unlike Hyatt's pool balls, balls made of Bakelite were durable, easy to produce, and didn't carry the risk of blowing up the game. A hard, infusible, and chemically resistant plastic, Bakelite was based on a chemical combination of phenol and formaldehyde (phenol-formaldehyde resin), two compounds that were derived Baekeland had been searching for a synthetic substitute for shellac, a natural electrical insulator, to meet the needs of the rapidly electrifying United States. Bakelite was invented in the early 1900s by Dr. Leo Baekeland and his team of chemists. Bakelite is a trade name taken from its inventor, Leo Baekeland, who invented Bakelite in 1907. By the mid-1920s, the majority of pool balls were being made out of Bakelite. A Brief History. It was patented by Belgian born Leo Hendrik Baekeland in New York, in 1907, and was the first truly synthetic and thermosetting plastic. Bakelite was the major form of “art plastic” from the 1930s through to the 1950s. In 1907 Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic, meaning it contained no molecules found in nature. ... 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