PVC was first created by the German chemist Eugen Baumann in 1872. However it was never patented until 1913. Inventor, Friedrich Heinrich August Klatte initiated the polymerisation of vinyl chloride with sunlight. Klatte was the first person to receive a patent for PVC.
Waldo Lonsbury Semon worked for the B.F. Goodrich Company in the United States as a researcher. In 1926, Semon invented plasticized PVC or vinyl. He was trying to dehydrohalogenate PVC in a high boiling solvent in order to obtain an unsaturated polymer that might bond rubber to metal or for any other useful purpose. He began experimenting with the discarded material by combining it with other chemicals and exposing it to heat. The result was plasticized polyvinyl chloride - which we now call PVC or vinyl - a flexible "gel" that had striking similarities to natural rubber.

Throughout the late 1920s, Semon continued to experiment with this new material, but BFGoodrich had a difficult time marketing it.
Semon received United States patents numbers 1,929,453 and 2,188,396 for the "Synthetic Rubber-like Composition and Method of Making Same; Method of Preparing Polyvinyl Halide Products."

The 1930s … Vinyl (PVC or polyvinyl chloride) remained a laboratory curiosity until its first commercial use - shock absorber seals - opened the eyes of industry to other potential applications that might reduce the country's dependence on limited rubber resources. Of note, flexible vinyl was used to develop the first American synthetic tires, which we have on our cars today.

These early successes led to further experimentation with vinyl formulations. Vinyl plastisol, a solution of vinyl resin in plasticizer, was first used as a coating to make waterproof fabric for a number of products. Today, vinyl-coated fabrics are used to make everything from durable, lightweight inflatable rafts to easy-to-clean, attractive wallcovering.

The 1940s … Vinyl played a significant role for the armed forces during World War II, addressing severe shortages of natural rubber. As a result of its superior safety and performance as a nonflammable electrical wire coating, vinyl has remained the standard material for wire insulation.

The 1950s … Vinyl's capabilities continued to diversify, as new formulations further expanded the material's physical properties and opened new markets. The most important innovation came when irrigation pipe made from rigid vinyl was introduced to the United States. Now the largest market for vinyl production, PVC pipe is recognized as a less expensive, non-corrosive and more easily installed alternative to metal pipe.
 

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PVC Timeline

Waldo L. Semon

Born Sep 10 1898 - Died May 26 1999
Inducted into the inventors hall of fame in 1995

In 1926 Waldo Semon, newly employed in the research department at The BFGoodrich Company in Akron, Ohio, decided to pursue a dubious project. Instead of digging into his assigned work, he began trying to dissolve an undesirable material called polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to create an adhesive for bonding rubber to metal.

'People then thought of PVC as worthless back then,' Semon recalled. 'They'd throw it in the trash.'

Semon never succeeded in creating the adhesive, but by heating PVC in a solvent at a high boiling point he discovered a substance that was both flexible and elastic. At first no one literally knew what to make of Semon's newfangled substance, but decades later PVC has become the world's second-best-selling plastic, generating billions of dollars in sales each year.

Inventor Biography

Born in Demopolis, Alabama, Semon moved to the Pacific Northwest when he was seven. In 1916 he entered the a University of Washington determined to be a chemist. He graduated cum laude in 1920 then continued his studies at the University of Washington, where he received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1923.

After a short period as an instructor at the university, Semon joined BFGoodrich. While research director at BFG, Semon provided the technical leadership that fuelled the discovery of three major new families of polymeric materials: thermoplastic polyurethane, synthetic 'natural' rubber, and the first oil-resistant synthetic rubbers.

Following his retirement from BFG in 1963 Semon served as a research professor at Kent State University. Based on his belief that young people are the future of the country, throughout his life he assisted local schools in providing science education.

Semon was awarded 116 U.S. patents.
Interestingly, Semon took the most pleasure out of another invention that was far less heralded than PVC. That invention was synthetic rubber bubble gum. “It looked just like ordinary gum, except that it would blow these great big bubbles,” he said years ago.
 

Invention Impact

His invention has helped advance technology and society beyond what was imaginable 50 years prior to his inventions. How many children have found hours of fun, if not sore jaws, from chewing bubble gum.