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whether it can be developed into a cheaper, and in every way
superior, material. That is very probable. For special uses, IG's oilproof
perbunan already has overshadowed the natural product, which is not resistant
to oils and fuels.
Furthermore, from a long-range point of view, the
production of synthetic rubber offers the opportunity to make enormous rubber
plantations available for food production, and to stop the exploitation of
laborers whose work consists of painstaking tapping of trees at the lowest
wages.
Now that countries like America and Russia have begun the
industrial production of synthetic rubber on a huge scale, there can hardly be
a doubt that the path which has once been successfully followed will not be
deserted again. American circles have called this age the "age of plastics,"
obviously making reference to the designations of stone age, bronze age and
iron age. Although this description possibly goes too far in its
generalization, nevertheless it cannot be denied that during the past decade
the development of plastics has progressed to such an extent that it influences
the way men live to a greater and greater degree.
As man's knowledge of
the internal structure of matter increased and his means and methods were
perfected and became more diversified, his technical ability to make new
materials (chemically) also increased.
New developments point more and
more plainly towards total synthesis based on primary chemical elements and
simple chemical combinations, which, through the process of polymerization or
condensed polymerization, are given the high molecular structure characteristic
of all plastics.
It becomes evident here that, due to almost limitless
possibilities in the choice of primary materials and of methods, it is possible
to give the final product any desired quality that will best suit it to human
needs.
All industrial countries of the world, and especially the United
States in the past two decades, have been participating in the development of
this wide field. Here the chemistry of the super polyamide should be
remembered, whose most impressive representative, the nylon thread, will have
far-reaching effects, especially on the textile industry, because of its superb
qualities.
The plastics produced by the I.G. Farbenindustrie are mainly
made from acetylene bases. Products like polyvinyl-chloride, polyvinyl-acetate,
polyacryl-ester, polyvinyl-ether, and polystyrol, in the most diversified
modifications, have been introduced in numerous fields of applications and are
now established in industry and in the home. The development of the chemical
processes |
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