Polymer chemistry History
Polymer chemistry started by studying the long fibers in plants. Nitrocellulose treated with camphor makes celluloid. Chemists dissolve celluloid in ether or acetone to make collodion. Doctors have used collodion as a wound dressing since the U.S. Civil War. Cellulose acetate was first prepared in 1865. In 1844 Charles Goodyear received a U.S. patent for vulcanizing rubber with sulfur and heat. Thomas Hancock had received a patent for the same process in the UK the year before.