| Leo Hendrick Baekeland (1863-1944)
invented Bakelite
|
Leo
Hendrick Baekeland was born on 14 November 1863 in
Ghent, Belgium, of working class parents Charles
and Rosalie Baekeland. From an early age he
showed academic brilliance. At evening classes he
won medals in chemistry, physics, mechanics and
economics. At the age of 17, he was awarded a
scholarship to Ghent University and by the age of
21 had obtained his Doctor of Science degree. In
1899, he was appointed an Associate Professor at
the University and this was followed by further
academic honours which finally led to the award
of a travelling scholarship.
Baekeland decided that his future lay in the
United States of America. For many years, he had
been interested in photography and had undertaken
numerous experiments with photograohic chemicals.
This resulted in his invention of Velox
photographic paper which transformed the world of
popular photograph and led to his selling the
process to Kodak Eastman for a huge sum of money.
He was now financially secure and able to pursue
whatever scientific or business interest took his
fancy. And one of the things that took his fancy
was the resinous product formed when two common
chemicals - phenol and formaldehyde - are reacted
together. He was not the first to take an
interest in the subject but, even so, it took
several years of patient investigation before he
could control the process which he revealed to
the world in his USA patent of 18 February 1907
and in later corresponding patents in many other
countries. Baekeland called his new synthetic
resin Bakelite and he produced it in three forms
which he called Bakelite A, B & C according
to its chemical and physical characteristics.
Baekeland claimed without exaggeration that his
product was 'the material of a thousand uses'.
Phenolic resins, moulding powders, high-pressure
laminates, varnishes, adhesives and lacquers were
among the important products resulting from his
discovery. They could not have come at a better
time because huge potential markets such as
automobiles, radio and telephony were beginning
to change the world. To market Bakelite, he
formed in 1910 the General Bakelite Company in
the USA and arranged for licensees in other parts
of the world.
When Baekeland died in 1944, his products were in
use by nearly every industry and his life's work
had been recognised by numerous scientific and
academic bodies throughout the world. For many
people, he is 'the father of the plastics
industry'.
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