Celebrating Hermann Staudinger, the father of polymer chemistry

Did you know? Jons Jacob Berzelius used the term polymer in 1833 to refer to molecules that had the same atomic groups in a repeating pattern. And then, in 1920, it was Hermann Staudinger who wrote a paper titled Uber Polymerisationen (On Polymerisations), which marked the beginning of the polymerisation revolution.

Dr Vijay Habbu, who was chairing a technical session on polymeric materials at the ResPack International Conference in Mumbai, doffed his hat to Hermann Staudinger, the father of polymer chemistry. He alluded to Uber Polymerisation, in which Staudinger demonstrated numerous processes in which he combined a large number of tiny molecules to generate high molecular weight compounds.

This procedure was called polymerisation, where covalent bonds bind individual repeating units together. Staudinger used the term macromolecules in 1922 to describe this idea, which encompassed both natural and synthetic polymers and served as the foundation for a variety of technologies and polymeric materials.

Between 1922 and 1930, Staudinger examined the characteristics of catalytically-hydrogenated natural rubber in 19 articles, continuing his work with chemically modified rubber. His findings indicated that the building blocks of the rubber molecules had covalent interactions with one another.

For two decades, Staudinger’s idea and findings were met with criticism from prominent organic chemists, peers and contemporaries.

In his autobiography, Staudinger commented: “My colleagues were skeptical about this change, and those who knew my publications in the field of low molecular chemistry asked me why I was neglecting this interesting field and instead was working on a very unpleasant field and poorly defined compounds, like rubber and synthetic polymers. At that time, the chemistry of these compounds often was designated, in view of their properties, as Schmierenchemie (grease chemistry).”

Staudinger’s macromolecular theory gained traction among other chemists by the late 1920s and early 1930s. The 1930s and 1940s are regarded as the golden age for new synthetic polymer development. For higher yield and efficiency, the polymerisation and polycondensation processes were improved. To further characterise the microstructure of the polymer macromolecules, new techniques were created.

The production of man-made fibres, films, plastics, rubbers, coatings, and adhesives was completely transformed by the introduction of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PU), nylon fibres and neoprene (the first synthetic rubber), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), and polystyrene (PS).

When Staundinger during delivered his Nobel lecture on 11 December 1953:, he said, “Macromolecular chemistry is the youngest branch of organic chemistry."

Since the 1920s, a lot has happened in the field of polymer science, and the application of polymers is continually growing. Researchers from a new generation of polymer scientists are working to create sustainable polymers that do not harm the environment. In addition, bio-based polymers have advanced significantly in recent years.