At the beginning of the 2th century, it was considered inconceivable for enterprises to engage in basic scientific research. In 1926, out of interest in basic science, DuPont, the largest industrial company in the United States, suggested that it carry out basic research on discovering new scientific facts. In 1927, the company decided to pay $25, a year as research expenses, and began to hire chemical researchers. By 1928, DuPont established the Institute of Basic Chemistry, and Dr. Wallace H. carothers (1896-1937), who was only 32 years old, was employed as the head of the organic chemistry department of the institute.
carothers, American organic chemist. Born in Wilmington, Iowa, USA on April 27th, 1896. He died in Philadelphia, USA on April 29th, 1937. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1924, he successively worked as a teacher and researcher in organic chemistry at this university and Harvard University. In 1928, he was hired to do organic chemistry research in the laboratory of DuPont company in Wilmington, USA. He presided over a series of studies on obtaining high molecular weight substances by polymerization. In 1935, adipic acid and hexamethylenediamine were used as raw materials to prepare polymer, which was called polymer 66 at that time because both components contained six carbon atoms. He melted the polymer and extruded it with an injection needle, and stretched it under tension, which was called fiber. This kind of fiber, polyamide 66 fiber, was named Nylon after industrialization in 1939, and it was the earliest industrialized synthetic fiber variety.
the synthesis of nylon laid the foundation for the synthetic fiber industry, and the appearance of nylon made the textile look brand-new. Nylon stockings woven from this fiber are both transparent and more durable than stockings. On October 24, 1939, Dupont made a sensation when it publicly sold nylon stockings at its headquarters, which was regarded as a rare thing to snap up. People once praised this fiber with the words "as thin as spider silk, as strong as steel wire and as beautiful as spun silk". By May 194, nylon fabrics were sold all over the United States.
From the outbreak of the Second World War until 1945, the nylon industry was turned to manufacturing military products such as parachutes, aircraft tire curtain fabrics and military uniforms. Due to its characteristics and wide applications, nylon has developed very rapidly after the Second World War. Various products of nylon, from stockings and clothes to carpets and fishing nets, have appeared in countless ways, making it one of the three major synthetic fibers.
(caption) Balloon made of Nylon can be made very big
Nylon is an artificial polymer. On February 28th, 1935, Wallace carothers of DuPont Company invented this kind of plastic in Wilmington, USA. In 1938, nylon was officially launched. The earliest nylon products were toothbrush brushes made of nylon (launched on February 24th, 1938) and nylon stockings worn by women (launched on May 15th, 194). Today, nylon fiber is the raw material of many kinds of man-made fibers. Hard nylon is used in the construction industry.
structure
from a chemical point of view, nylon is a condensed polymer, and its constituent units are connected by amides, so it is sometimes called polyamide. Nylon is the first completely artificial fiber in the world, and its raw materials are coal, water and air. Two basic chemicals, hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid, are generally synthesized from these raw materials. They are mixed together and polymerized to form nylon.
nylon 6,6
The most common nylon 6,6 or nylon 66 means that both hexamethylene diamine and adipic acid contain six carbon atoms. In the polymer chain, hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid alternate with each other, so different from other polymers (such as protein), the direction of amide in nylon is also alternating.
History
The origin of the word nylon is not clear. Many people say that it is composed of abbreviations of NY (New York, USA) and Lon (London, England), which were the first places to produce nylon. But this statement is groundless. In 194, some people in DuPont said that Nyl was found at random, and on was because many fibers (such as Cotton, English cotton) ended in on. In an article published by DuPont in 1978, it was also said that they originally intended to call it No-Run, but later they changed it to Nylon and nylon to make it sound better.
another common legend is that nylon is short for Now You, Lazy Old Nippon. The background is that a large number of cheap Japanese textiles hit western society in the 193s. Therefore, nylon is regarded as a competitive product against Japanese textiles.
Although the word nylon is very popular, it has never been used as a trademark or protected by a trademark.
during the second world war, the allied forces used nylon parachutes (previously made of Asian silk), and other military materials such as tires, tents and ropes were also made of nylon. It is even used to make paper for printing American currency. At the beginning of the war, cotton accounted for 8% of fiber raw materials, and the other 2% was mainly wood fiber. In August 1945, the proportion of cotton decreased to 75%, while the proportion of man-made fiber increased to 25%.