Bakelite is a thermosetting phenol-formaldehyde resin generally credited as the world's first plastic made entirely from synthetic components rather than modified natural materials. Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland invented it in 1907 in Yonkers, New York, and patented it on December 7, 1909, naming it after himself. Its heat resistance and electrical non-conductivity made it the material of choice for early electrical insulators and the casings of radios and telephones, and it was also molded into automobile distributor caps, kitchenware, jewelry, billiard balls, aircraft propellers and firearm components before newer plastics displaced most of these uses. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Primary UseSourced to the subject's own accountElectrical insulators and radio and telephone casings; automobile distributor caps; kitchenware, jewelry and billiard balls; early aircraft propellers and firearm components. 1 Origin YearSourced to the subject's own account Classification
Material ClassSourced to the subject's own account Connections
Associated With
Source Bakelite (Wikipedia)
Plastics, Materials Bakelite is historically the first fully synthetic plastic.
Radio, Inventions Bakelite was the standard cabinet material for radios through the 1930s and 1940s.
In Field
Sources
1. Bakelite (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening section
Because Bakelite is heat-resistant and electrically nonconductive, it has also been used to make products such as electrical insulators and casings for radios and telephones.
material-class sentence
Bakelite is a thermosetting phenol-formaldehyde resin generally credited as the world's first plastic made entirely from synthetic components rather than modified natural materials.
Associated With: Firearm, Firearms and weapons section
Bakelite was also very commonly used in the pistol grip, hand guard, and buttstock of firearms.
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