Polymers and People

Humans have always invested efforts to understand the nature of the physical world around us. From the ancient Greeks to modern day scientists, chemists have investigated natural materials and devised ways to synthesize new materials. Understanding the structure of the carbon atom was a vital step in understanding and synthesizing polymers (see Sorting out Nature). Several polymers, including Bakelite, were created in the late 1800s and early 1900s (see Launching the Polymer Industry). The success of Bakelite led to more intensive research to understand the structure of polymers and to synthesize new ones. In 1920, a German scientist first proposed the correct structure for polymers as long chain molecules of many identical or similar chemical units. While testing this theory, another scientist produced a very successful polymer, nylon (see Science Explains Polymers).

The 1930s saw the development of many new synthetic polymers such as PVC and Teflon to name a few. These polymers came to be called plastics. Researchers also started producing artificial rubber (see The Glory Years). Scientists then focused on developing polymers from hydrocarbons such as ethylene and propylene. Research showed that it was possible to devise catalysts that were very effective for the polymerization of these hydrocarbons, allowing great control over the properties of the resulting polymers (see Polymers from Petroleum). As new applications for polymers were being found, researchers started to investigate their applications in medicine (see Working with Nature).

Polyglycolic acid (PGA) was such a polymer, used in surgical sutures by surgeons. Scientists also found a method to implant drug-bearing polymer wafers after brain surgery, where the polymers could slowly release drugs right where they were needed. Polymer scaffolds were also developed to grow cells; this was a big improvement over growing cells in flat plates which prevented them from producing the normal array of proteins. Research in this area is ongoing, and holds tremendous promise for tissue engineering in the future (see Designer Polymers).