Leo Baekeland | |
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 Baekeland in 1916 | |
| Born | Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-11-14)November 14, 1863 Ghent, Belgium |
| Died | February 23, 1944(1944-02-23) (aged 80) Beacon, New York, U.S. |
| Education | University of Ghent |
| Occupation(s) | Chemist,inventor |
| Known for | Plastics research,Bakelite,Novolac, Veloxphotographic paper |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Jenny Nina Rose Baekeland George Washington Baekeland Nina Baekeland |
| Awards | John Scott Medal(1910) William H. Nichols Medal(1910) Willard Gibbs Award(1913) Perkin Medal(1916)[1] Franklin Medal(1940) |
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Leo Hendrik BaekelandHonFRSE (/ˈbeɪklænd/BAYK-land,Dutch:[ˈleːjoːˈɦɛndrɪɡˈbaːkəlɑnt]; November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian chemist. Educated in Belgium and Germany, he spent most of his career in the United States. He is best known for the inventions of Veloxphotographic paper in 1893, andBakelite in 1907. He has been called "The Father of thePlastics Industry"[2] for his invention of Bakelite, an inexpensive, non-flammable and versatileplastic, which marked the beginning of the modernplastics industry.[3][4]
Leo Baekeland was born inGhent, Belgium, on November 14, 1863,[5] the son of acobbler, Charles Baekeland, and a house maid, Rosalia Merchie. His siblings were: Elodia Maria Baekeland; Melonia Leonia Baekeland; Edmundus Baekeland; Rachel Helena Baekeland and Delphina Baekeland.[6]
He toldThe Literary Digest: "The name is a Dutch word meaning 'Land of Beacons.'"[7] He spent much of his early life inGhent, Belgium. He graduated with honours from the Ghent Municipal Technical School and was awarded a scholarship by the City of Ghent[8]: 102 to study chemistry at theGhent University, which he entered in 1880.[2]: 13 He acquired a PhDmaxima cum laude at the age of 21.[8]: 102 After a brief appointment as Professor of Physics and Chemistry at the Government Higher Normal School inBruges (1887–1889), he was appointed associate professor of chemistry atGhent University in 1889.[2]: 14
Baekeland marriedCéline Swarts [Wikidata] (1868–1944) on August 8, 1889, and they had two children.[9] One of their grandsons, Brooks marriedBarbara Daly Baekeland in 1942 and they had one child. Hugh Karraker, one of their great-grandsons, devoted the last years of his life raising awareness of Baekeland's impact on modern life. He produced an hour-long documentary,All Things Bakelite, which was shown at film festivals and onPBS stations nation-wide.[10][11][12]
In 1889, Baekeland and his wife Céline took advantage of a travel scholarship to visit universities in England and the United States.[1]: 178 [2]: 14 [13] They visitedNew York City, where he met ProfessorCharles F. Chandler ofColumbia University and Richard Anthony, of theE. and H.T. Anthony photographic company. Professor Chandler was influential in convincing Baekeland to stay in the United States.[14] Baekeland had already invented a process to develop photographic plates using water instead of other chemicals, which he had patented in Belgium in 1887.[2]: 13 Although this method was unreliable, Anthony saw potential in the young chemist and offered him a job.[8]: 127–130 [15]
Baekeland worked for the Anthony company for two years, and in 1891, set up in business for himself working as a consulting chemist.[8]: 130 However, a spell of illness and disappearing funds made him rethink his actions and he decided to return to his old interest of producing a photographic paper that would allow enlargements to be printed by artificial light.[16] After two years of intensive effort, he perfected the process to produce the paper, which he named "Velox"; it was the first commercially successful photographic paper. At the time, the US was suffering a recession and there were no investors or buyers for his proposed new product, so Baekeland became partners with Leonard Jacobi and established the Nepera Chemical Company in Nepera Park,Yonkers, New York.[8]: 131–135 [15]
In 1899, Jacobi, Baekeland, and Albert Hahn, a further associate, sold Nepera to George Eastman of the Eastman Kodak Co. for $750,000.[17][18] Baekeland earned approximately $215,000 net through the transaction.[8]: 134–136 [19]
With a portion of the money he purchased "Snug Rock", a house in Yonkers, New York, where he set up his own well-equipped laboratory. There, he later said,
"in comfortable financial circumstances, a free man, ready to devote myself again to my favorite studies... I enjoyed for several years that great blessing, the luxury of not being interrupted in one's favorite work."[20]
One of the requirements of the Nepera sale was, in effect, anon-compete clause: Baekeland agreed not to do research in photography for at least 20 years. He would have to find a new area of research. His first step was to go to Germany in 1900, for a "refresher in electrochemistry" at the Technical Institute at Charlottenburg.[2]: 14
Upon returning to the United States, Baekeland was involved briefly but successfully in helpingClinton Paul Townsend andElon Huntington Hooker to develop a production-quality electrolytic cell. Baekeland was hired as an independent consultant, with the responsibility of constructing and operating a pilot plant.[8]: 138–139 Baekeland developed a stronger diaphragm cell for thechloralkali process, using wovenasbestos cloth filled with a mixture ofiron oxide, asbestos fibre, andiron hydroxide. Baekeland's improvements were important to the founding ofHooker Chemical Company and the construction of one of the world's largest electrochemical plants, atNiagara Falls.[2][20][21]
Baekeland was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1935 and the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences in 1936.[22][23]
Having been successful with Velox, Baekeland set out to find another promising area for chemical development. As he had done with Velox, he looked for a problem that offered "the best chance for the quickest possible results".[20] Asked why he entered the field ofsynthetic resins, Baekeland answered that his intention was to make money.[14] By the 1900s, chemists had begun to recognize that many of the natural resins and fibers werepolymeric, a term introduced in 1833 byJöns Jacob Berzelius.[24][25]Adolf von Baeyer had experimented withphenols andaldehydes in 1872, particularlypyrogallol andbenzaldehyde.[26] He created a "black guck" which he considered useless and irrelevant to his search for synthetic dyes.[8]: 115 [27] Baeyer's student, Werner Kleeberg, experimented with phenol and formaldehyde in 1891, but as Baekeland noted "could not crystallize this mess, nor purify it to constant composition, nor in fact do anything with it once produced".[26]
Baekeland began to investigate the reactions ofphenol andformaldehyde.[14] He familiarized himself with previous work and approached the field systematically, carefully controlling and examining the effects of temperature, pressure, and the types and proportions of materials used.[2][8]: 144–145
The first application that appeared promising was the development of a synthetic replacement forshellac (made from thesecretion of lac beetles). Baekeland produced a solublephenol-formaldehyde shellac called "Novolak" but concluded that its properties were inferior. It never became a big market success, but is still used to this day (e. g. as aphotoresist).[28]
Baekeland continued to explore possible combinations of phenol and formaldehyde, intrigued by the possibility that such materials could be used in molding. By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he produced his dreamed-of hard moldable plastic:Bakelite.[28] Bakelite was made fromphenol, then known as carbolic acid, andformaldehyde. The chemical name of Bakelite is polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride.[4] In compression molding, the resin is generally combined with fillers such as wood orasbestos, before pressing it directly into the final shape of the product. Baekeland's process patent for making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde was filed in July 1907, and granted on December 7, 1909. In February 1909, Baekeland officially announced his achievement at a meeting of the New York section of theAmerican Chemical Society.[29]
In 1917, Baekeland became a professor by special appointment atColumbia University.[30]: 87 [31]
The Smithsonian has documents from the county courthouse for Westchester County in White Plains, New York, indicating that he was admitted to U. S. Citizenship on December 16, 1919.[32][33]
In 1922, after patent litigation favorable to Baekeland, the General Bakelite Co., which he had founded in 1910, along with the Condensite Co. founded by Aylesworth, and theRedmanol Chemical Products Company founded byLawrence V. Redman, were merged into the Bakelite Corporation.[29]
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The invention of Bakelite marks the beginning of theage of plastics.[4] Bakelite was the first plastic invented that retained its shape after being heated.Radios,telephones andelectrical insulators were made of Bakelite because of its excellent electrical insulation and heat-resistance. Soon, its applications spread to most branches of industry.[4]
Baekeland received many awards and honors, both during his lifetime and beyond, including thePerkin Medal in 1916 and theFranklin Medal in 1940.[20] In 1974 he was posthumously inducted into thePlastics Hall of Fame and in 1978 he was likewise inducted into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame inAkron, Ohio.[34]
At the time of Baekeland's death in 1944, the world production of Bakelite was ca. 175,000 tons, and it was used in over 15,000 different products. He held more than 100 patents,[20] including processes for the separation ofcopper andcadmium, and for the impregnation of wood.
As Baekeland grew older he became more eccentric. BiographerCarl Kauffman, interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered, gave this example:[35] "He would simply walk into the pool with his clothes on, get himself nicely soaking wet, walk out, cool off without ever putting on a swim suit or anything else. As he said, evaporation is a cooling process." He entered into fierce battles with his son and presumptive heir over salary and other issues. He sold the General Bakelite Company toUnion Carbide in 1939 and, at his son's prompting, he retired. He became a recluse, attempting to develop an immense tropical garden on his winter estate inCoconut Grove, Florida.[36] He died of astroke in asanatorium inBeacon, New York, in 1944.[37] Baekeland is buried inSleepy Hollow Cemetery inSleepy Hollow, New York.[38]
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| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | Cover of Time Magazine September 22, 1924 | Succeeded by |
