The Development of Plastics When rubber was first commercially produced in Europe during the nineteenth century, it rapidly became a very important commodity, particularly in the fields of transportation and electricity. However, during the twentieth century a number of new synthetic materials, called ...
But they're working on solving that problem, trying to come up with a way to coat plastics and other materials, durably and effectively. Interestingly, it was a plant—the lotus plant—that inspired this work. I guess you could say inspired it in an indirect sort of way. ...
The evolution of the chemistry behind plastics is mind numbing, and the uses for plastics are endless. In the Middle Ages, when scientists first started to experiment, plastics were derived from organic natural sources, such as egg and blood proteins. It wasn't until the 19th and 20th centuri...