ACTION ON THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL FRONT Here and in issues to Follow we give Facts about some origins which show that in America genius continues tc flourish.
The basic ingredient of Ameripol, the synthetic rubber developed by the B. F. Goodrich Co. in a 16-year research program, is butadiene. Here butadiene is stored at a plant in cylinders under pressure. A l l materials used in Ameripol are found in America.
Introduction AMERICANS act swiftly and effectively when need appears. Our chemical industry evidences that. World War I revealed great gaps in our chemical economy; and plants to practice the in tricate, and then strange, syntheses of drugs, dyes, and a thousand other chemi cal products appeared miraculously. ( '« >rnfields gave way, producing units between plant and harvest. The miracle was hidden then by the grief and travail— the blood, sweat, and tears—of creating totally new enterprises to meet unexpected needs quickly. Now, again, the exigencies of war have created new and unforeseen shortages that must and will be met. Now, as before, the urgency of the need has made performance seem slow, has encouraged carping criti cism of earnest effort. Even the ingenuity and inventiveness of Americans are ques tioned. But only foresight has failed. Diplomatic and military defeats created a shortage of rubber so complete and so sud den that we as a nation were set back on our heels. In the ensuing turmoil fruit less argument and faultfinding consumed precious time. That lag shook confidence in the acumen of our scientists and the ability of our industry. These misgivings suggested to the uninformed that Ameri can science is an alien borrowed art and that American scientists are parasites thriving only on the inventions and dis coveries of others. That is patently false. No one can view American accomplishments in science without being deeply impressed. Our vaunted Yankee ingenuity has merely 1358
assumed a new garb. T h e pioneering spirit, which carved a great nation out of a wilderness, today animates the research workers of the country, thrives in ad vancing science, engineering, and industry. Obviously, the answer to critics lies in
knowledge. Only lack of facts can foster misunderstanding. Consequently it will be worth while to review some of the fields in which Americans have pioneered in industries based on science. That is done in the following pages.
Rubber Technology W I L L I A M C. G E E R ' , 6 2 4 Highland Road, Ithaca, Ν . Υ. Y2 ECAUSE of its history, the word "rubber" carries several implications, and in any except the most highly technical writings one all-important conception should be explained and emphasized. Haw or crude rubber cannot, without the aid of other substances, be made into arti cles which would perform a fraction of the service rendered by the merchandise with which we are familiar. There are but few exceptions and they are products which, strictly and chemically speaking, should not be classified under the heading of "rubber". Automobile tires, for instance, if mr\de only of raw rubber, whether from a planta tion in the Far East, a wild tree in the Amazon Valley, or out of the chemist's kettle, might carry a car around the block without a breakdown but certainly not much farther. Other substances must be mixed with raw rubber and in different proportions for each of t h e thousands of well-known articles. Thus, the rubber mixture, or "compound" as it is collo quially expressed, involves a considerable science and constitutes the foundation of the rubber industry. 1 Formerly vice president in charge of research and development of The B. F. Goodrich Co.
C H E M I C A L
During the early years of the past century, efforts were made to use rawrubber directly in the form of various articles. The qualities were low and the little rubber industry had practically col lapsed when the American, Charles Good year, in 1839 made the first of that series of four discoveries each of which today is necessary to rubber compounds. Good year discovered that sulfur, when mixed with crude rubber and heated, produced a profound change. This method shortly thereafter became known as vulcanization and is still so designated. From then un til now sulfur has become as necessary t o rubber articles as rubber itself. The crude rubber is weak and thermoplastic, whereas vulcanized rubber is much stronger and not thermoplastic. How ever, the time then required for the vul canization process was measured in hours and ο till the finished article did not exhibit many desirable characteristics. In 1906 Oenslager, in Akron, Ohio, found certain organic chemicals which, wh«n used in small quantity (1 per cent or less) with rubber and sulfur, not only shortened this time but greatly i m p r o v d the strength and other physical pioperties. As a class these substances were termed A N D
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