People bought Bakelite jewelry boxes, lamps, desk sets, clocks, radios, telephones, kitchenware, tableware, and a variety of game pieces such as chess sets, billiard balls, and poker chips. Bakelite ushered in a new era of attractive, affordable, convenient consumer goods, making it possible for a broad range of consumers to enjoy products that previously had been inaccessible.
Bakelite made perhaps its largest stamp on the world of fashion. Bakelite jewelry became immensely popular in the s as an affordable and attractive replacement for other materials. It came in several colors, including translucent and marbled shades by the s. Bakelite jewelry from this era often had striking patterns, such as polka dots and chevrons, and it could be carved into intricate shapes.
Bakelite and Galalith before it introduced plastics to the fashion world, to be followed by nylon, polyester, spandex, and more. These plastics have inspired fashion designers to do more with less: more fabric choices, more creativity, and more durability, coupled often with less material, less weight, fewer wrinkles, and less expense. Antique Bakelite items —from household appliances to jewelry—today are displayed in museums and sold for large sums.
After the s, a large variety of plastics appeared in the marketplace and edged out Bakelite in all but a few specialized mostly electrical uses. But to me, Bakelite will always have a special place in the history of plastics as the first truly modern plastic, one that people prized for its beauty, versatility, and durability. It ushered in the rapid growth of plastics that we now use every day in so many ways to improve our lives: medical devices that help save lives … athletic gear that enables peak performance … packaging that helps keep our food safer and fresher … clothing that keeps us cool or warm ….
A bit of hyperbole, of course—but prescient nonetheless. Get the facts on plastic. Professor Plastics Read Bio. We see that a number of things like the plastic handle of utensils, telephones, bangles, automobile parts etc. Studying the properties of Bakelite will give us a wider idea as to why it is used for a wide range of applications. Bakelite is the commercial name for phenol formaldehyde resin. It is liquefiable and malleable when heated and becomes permanently hard and rigid on cooling.
Hence, it is a thermosetting plastic. It can be easily molded and hence is used in the making of various products.
It shows high resistance towards heat, electricity and chemical action. This is why they are used to make a number of electronic gadgets, switches and automobile parts. The dielectric constant of Bakelite falls in the range of 4. Fillers are used to increase the strength and enhance the properties of the Bakelite so that it can be used for various applications. Asbestos, wood flour, cotton flock, cotton pulp, gypsum, mica etc. Following are a few properties that are enhanced by the addition of fillers:.
Enhanced toughness and strength. Better moldability. Greater thermal, electrical and chemical resistance. Change in color. The addition of an inert filler also reduces the cost of molding. Along with fillers, catalysts are used to accelerate the curing process the process that results in the hardening and toughening of polymers by forming cross-linked polymer chains.
Bakelite Uses. Bakelite has emerged out as a huge commercial success and its uses know no boundaries. Based on the above-mentioned properties of the Bakelite, here are some of its uses-. Being a good insulator, it is used in non-conducting parts of radios and other electrical devices like sockets, switches, automobile distribution caps, insulation of wires, brake pads etc.
The ability to be molded makes it a part of the commodities being used in modern life. It is used to make buttons, clocks, washing machine impeller, toys, kitchenware and much more. Since Bakelite can be made into different colors, Bakelite jewelry was once very much in use.
The colorful bangles, earrings and bracelets were widely used. Artificial jewelry made of metals or some other alloys may sometimes result into allergies or skin irritation, but carefully manufactured Bakelite jewelry are cent percent safe to wear which gave it an added advantage in the market. Bakelite was definitely a remarkable invention that paved the way to the 'Age of Plastics'. The use of Bakelite might have been reduced today when compared to the earlier years, but it is still in use.
Many cheaper substitutes for Bakelite have been investigated which are replacing its use in the market. We may not realize but we live in a world of polymers, and everything and anything connected to us or our surroundings is chemistry. Bakelite was invented in the early twentieth century but it is an important topic of study even in this 21st century.
The properties of Bakelite are studied to get information regarding its commercial usage. The physical, chemical, electrical and thermal properties of Bakelite make it a widely used commercial polymers.
0コメント