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• These polymers were still made from natural products.
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• Cellulose nitrate was a moldable plastic. Cellulose was from natural
fibers such as wood pulp. Cellulose nitrate was also used in making
explosives. A major problem with cellulose nitrate was its flammability.
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• Charles Goodyear for which the company was named after but did not
profit from his inventions. He was
trying to eliminate the stickyness of natural rubber that developed in warm
weather. Goodyear received the patent for vulcanization but had spent much
time and money trying to protect his patent from infringement. He was imprisoned for being in debt
and he died penniless.
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• One of the application of rubber was in waterproofing fabrics. Rubber
became sticky when warm which was a problem. One solution developed by
Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh was to place the rubber between two pieces
of cloth and this type of raingear become known as mackintoshes.
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