List of synthetic polymers
Some familiar household synthetic polymers include: Nylons in textiles and fabrics, Teflon in non-stick pans, Bakelite for electrical switches, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in pipes, etc. The common PET bottles are made of a synthetic polymer, polyethylene terephthalate. The plastic kits and covers are mostly made of synthetic polymers like polythene and tires are manufactured from Buna rubbers. However, due to the environmental issues created by these synthetic polymers which are mostly non-biodegradable and often synthesized from petroleum, alternatives like bioplastics are also being considered. They are however expensive when compared to the synthetic polymers.The eight most common types of synthetic organic polymers, which are commonly found in households are:
Albany Billiard Ball Company
In the 1860s, John Wesley Hyatt of Albany, New York acquired British chemist Alexander Parkes's 1855 patent for Parkesine, an early polymer, made of nitrocellulose, oil and various solvents. Parkes's own attempt to build a business around the new material, the first industrial plastic, had failed by 1868. Hyatt began experimenting with cellulose nitrate with the intention of manufacturing billiard balls, which until that time were principally made from ivory (cheaper balls were made of clay or wood). Using cloth, ivory dust, and shellac, Hyatt devised a method of covering billiard balls with the addition of collodion in 1868.