ARCHIVE - TOPIC OF THE MONTH
Overview: Topic of the Month - Archive
January 2019/2: "Mineral plastic" with great potential
16/01/2019
A new class of plastics has been inspired by nature and is easily degradable. Conventional plastics are based on crude oil and cause problems for the environment as they are not degradable. The research group around Helmut Cölfen, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Konstanz, has now produced an entirely new "mineral plastic" whose structure copies biomaterials.January 2019: Welcome to K-Year 2019
16/01/2019
As soon as one K is over, the next K begins. What this means in practice is that the preparations for K 2019, the leading trade fair for the plastics and rubber industry, already started directly after the last K ended three years ago. We are now entering the intensive phase, however, as the 2019 trade fair year gets going.December 2018: The story of the raincoat
12/12/2018
Autumn has arrived, winter is upon us. The wet and cold season can be very multiform. But, as the saying goes, there is no bad weather, only the wrong clothing. So, you couch potatoes, watch out: When the rain falls from the sky, pull the raincoat over and out into the fresh air. Dry feet, figuratively speaking, thanks to the British chemist ...November 2018: Acrylic patented 90 years ago (Part 3)
23/11/2018
Chemically speaking, it is merely one step from plastics made out of polymethacrylate (PMA) to Perspex, i.e. polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), production of which began at Röhm & Haas AG in 1928 (Hölscher 1972, 121). In contrast to acrylic acid, methacrylic acid has a methyl group (CH3) and/or is derived ...Oktober 2018:Acrylic patented 90 years ago
26/10/2018
90 years ago, on 27. October 1928, Röhm & Haas AG, Darmstadt, received a patent for an innovative new plastic with the awkward name polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). German Imperial Patent (DRP) 656642 was the result of sixteen years of research in the acrylate chemistry field.September 2018: Bakelite 111 years old – Material with the infinity symbol (Part 2)
10/09/2018
It was to take until December 1909 before Baekeland was granted all the US patents. He already started to reach out to the scientific and industrial communities earlier than this: “In the USA, he drew attention to Bakelite in a lecture to the American Chemical Society in New York on 5. February 1909” ...July / August 2018: Bakelite 111 years old – Material with the infinity symbol
13/07/2018
111 years ago, on 13. July 1907, Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944), a chemist from Belgium, filed patent applications with the US Patent Office for the first completely synthetic resin in the history of the world – Bakelite, which he had developed.June 2018: the two lives of Hermann Mark (1895-1992) Part 2
01/06/2018
The chemist Hermann Mark (1895-1992), who was born in Austria and escaped from the Nazis by taking refuge in the USA, is considered to be one of the principal founders of modern polymer sciences. k-online is highlighting his life and accomplishments in a two-part portrait that is appearing as the "Topic of the Month" in May and June 2018.May 2018: The two lives of Hermann Mark (1895-1992) Part 1
31/05/2018
The chemist Hermann Mark (1895-1992), who was born in Austria and escaped from the Nazis by taking refuge in the USA, is considered to be one of the principal founders of modern polymer sciences. k-online is highlighting his life and accomplishments in a two-part portrait that is appearing as the "Topic of the Month" in May and June 2018.April 2018: Acrylic patented 90 years ago (Part 1)
27/04/2018
Compared with the materials that have given their name to major periods of human history, the plastics era has been comparatively short. It has had a sustained impact all the same. And it involves plenty of interesting stories, about trailblazing technical developments and achievements as well as about the people who were responsible for them or played key roles in this context. k-online is ...