| DATE | MATERIAL |
|---|---|
| <1800 | Natural fibers (cotton, flax, wool, silk, leather, wood, paper, starch, natural rubber) |
| 1839 | Vulcanization of rubber (Charles Goodyear) |
| 1868 | Celluloid (plasticized cellulose nitrate; Hyatt) |
| 1892 | Viscose rayon fibers (Cross, Bevan and Beadle) |
| 1907 | Phenol-formaldehyde resins (Bakelite; Baekeland) |
| 1927 | Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) wall covering |
| 1929 | Polysulfide synthetic elastomer (Thiokol; Patrick) |
| 1929 | Urea-formaldehyde resins |
| 1931 | Poly(methyl methacrylate) plastics (PMMA) |
| 1937 | Styrene-butadiene (Buna-S) and styrene-acrylonitrile (Buna-N) copolymer elastomers |
| 1938 | Melamime-formaldehyde resins |
| 1940 | Isobutylene-isoprene elastomer (butyl rubber; Sparks and Thomas) |
| 1943 | Fluorocarbon resins (Teflon, DuPont; Plunkett) |
| 1943 | Silicones and polysiloxanes |
| 1943 | Polyurethanes (Bayer) |
| 1947 | Epoxy resins |
| 1950 | Polyester fibers, poly(ethylene terephthalate) |
| 1956 | Polyoxymethylene (acetals) |
| 1957 | High-density (linear) polyethylene |
| 1957 | Polycarbonate from bisphenol-A |
| 1959 | cis-Polybutadiene and polyisoprene elastomers |
| 1960 | Ethylene-propylene copolymer elastomers (EPDM) |
| 1962 | Polyimide resins |
| 1964 | Poly(phenylene oxide), PPO GE |
| 1965 | Polysulfone |
| 1965 | Styrene-butadiene block copolymers (Shell Kraton SBR) |
| 1970 | Poly(butylene terephthalate) |
| >1971 | Poly(phenylene sulfide) |
| Isotactic Polypropylene | |
| Syndiotactic Polystyrene | |
| Nylon 6, polycaprolcatom | |
| Nylon 66, poly(hexamethylene adipamide) | |
| Poly(ether ether ketone), PEEK | |
| Poly(phenylene sulfide), PPS | |
| Poly(paraphenylene bisbenzoxazole) | |
| Kevlar and nomex (aramids) | |
| Poly(para-benzoate) (arylate) | |
| DIVEMA cyclopolymer | |
| Synthetic rubber (GRS) | |
| Taken in part from From R.B. Seymour and C.E. Carraher, Jr., "Polymer Chemistry," Marcel Dekker, Inc., NY, 1981, and from the "Encyclopedia of Polymer Science," John Wiley and Sons, New York | |