In the past, people could only use material made from natural substances to make clothes, bedclothes and other household cloths. Cotton, flax, hemp, silk and wool were the main raw materials.
Just over a hundred years ago, chemistry changed all that and science worked out ways to make artificial fibres that could be woven to form synthetic materials. One of the first was nylon.
Nylon was invented by Wallace Hume Carothers, born in 1896 in the USA. He studied polymers and worked for the DuPont company in the 1930s. He first invented neoprene, which is synthetic rubber made from a polmer of ethyne molecules. But what he really wanted to do was make a substitute for silk. He combined complex chemicals together and created a very long and smooth molecule; the new fibre was made into finely woven material and was given the name Nylon.
Despite his successes, Carothers suffered mental illness most of his life and he committed suicide in 1937, never really able to see the full impact of his work.
Just over a hundred years ago, chemistry changed all that and science worked out ways to make artificial fibres that could be woven to form synthetic materials. One of the first was nylon.
Nylon was invented by Wallace Hume Carothers, born in 1896 in the USA. He studied polymers and worked for the DuPont company in the 1930s. He first invented neoprene, which is synthetic rubber made from a polmer of ethyne molecules. But what he really wanted to do was make a substitute for silk. He combined complex chemicals together and created a very long and smooth molecule; the new fibre was made into finely woven material and was given the name Nylon.
Despite his successes, Carothers suffered mental illness most of his life and he committed suicide in 1937, never really able to see the full impact of his work.
