V.
CHEMICAL RESEARCH IN THE GLASS INDUSTRY WILLIAM 1. ARNER
Some of the problems confronting a chemist employed by a c m @ n y manufacturing all kinds of flat glass are presented by Dr. William J. Arner of the Libby-OwensFord Glass C m @ n y . He is a graduate i n metallurgical engineering f r m Lehigh University and received dhe degrees of M S . and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Dr. Arner is the author of several @fiers describing the resulbs of his research.
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Safety glass is made of two thin plates of glass between which is sandwiched a layer of a flexible, transparent, organic material. The safety glass first manufactured presented a problem, being subject to the defect that it became yellow with age. This was not only unsightly, but, as the glass aged, it was no longer as well bonded and so not as great a protection against the hazards of flying glass as when originally made. The problem then was this: What was the cause of this aging and how could it be overcome? F i s t , there was the organization and consideration of the facts known of the nature of the intermediate or plastic layer
and of the glass layers. These facts had been accumulated from physical tests in our laboratory and from existing and available literature. From these facts, it was evident that the plastic layer of nitrocellulose, which is inherently unstable to energies in the form of light and heat, was the thing most at fault and ultimately would have to be replaced. At the time the p'roblem presented itself, there was available commercially, in a form suitable for use in this laboratory, nothing other than nitrocellulose plastic. Some work had been done on nitrocellulose plasticized with materials other than camphor, but tests of these materials showed that while they offered some improvement, it was not enough. The field for development of a plastic to replace one of nitrocellulose was unusually broad and included other cellulose derivatives, natural and synthetic resins, gelatin products, casein, and rubber derivatives. A careful examination of the field resulted in the choice of a cellulose acetate plastic, because in addition to the fact that it would undoubtedly be more stable to light and heat energies, and possess other desirable characteristics, it offered the most promise of ready availability.
Availability in this case meant a t a price near that of the material it was to replace and in sheet form suitable for use. At this stage of the operation it was necessary to obtain first the cooperation of the manufacturers of cellulose acetate and then to sell this idea to the somewhat conservative plastic manufacturers in order to get plastic sheets of cellulose acetate available for tests. To obtain suitable plastic sheets required the cooperation of organic, glass, and physical chemists. I t is necessary for any well-organized industrial research laboratory to have a similar cooperating group in order to solve industrial research problems. The mere development of a satisfactory cellulose acetate plastic sheet by no means solved the problem. The next and probably the most difficultstep was to make an adhesive which would bond glass and cellulose acetate plastic. This step required the organized efforts of both physical and organic chemists for over one and one-half years. While this part of the problem was purely scientific, commercial and engineering development aspects must be considered at every step, for to
make a good adhesive or plastic prohibitive in price is little better than not to make any at all. Then, when a better safety glass had been developed, engineering and commercial developments were necessary. The manufacture of the new product next had to be taken over by the plant, after quite accurate estimates of production costs and machinery changes or replacements had been made by the research organization. For successful operation, chemical and physical controls had to be supplied to the plant and after that the research organization had to see, initially, a t least, that these controls were rigorously hpplied. And, of course, the advertising and sales departments had to be supplied with all pertinent information necessary for selling the product after it had been made. The research department could then proceed to the solution of new major problems and a mass of -mulated minor problems. No problem, not even one of a minor nature, is solved by one man alone but by the organization, individuals solving only certain aspects of the problem.
