The discovery of polycarbonatesheet dates back to the year 1898 when a German chemist named Alfred
Einhorn observed the formation of an insoluble and infusible solid while trying
to prepare cyclic carbonates by combining hydroquinone and phosgene. However,
polycarbonate was independently discovered in 1953 by Dr. H. Schnell of Germany
and D.W. Fox of USA. Since then, it has been used in commercial applications.
Dr. H. Schnell discovered polycarbonate in the laboratory when he was searching
for ways to advance his company’s technologies. On the other hand, D.W. Fox
unintentionally discovered the material while working on a wire-coating
material. Both of them filed for US patents in 1955. Both the companies began
commercial production of the material under their own trade name between 1958
and 1960. In 1960, polycarbonate started being used in police, fire, and ambulance
vehicles as bubble lights.
Later in 1970, the material began being used in space shuttle windshields and astronaut helmet visors. The coloured tint of polycarbonate sheet was eliminated in 1971, after which it was sold as a glass-like clear material, allowing natural daylight to seep in. It soon found its usage in other applications like displays and plug connections, distributor and fuse boxes, greenhouses, and public buildings. However, it was very expensive, thus limiting its usage to a constricted range of applications.
In 1982, polycarbonate quickly replaced audio tapes by being
introduced in the form of an audio-CD. Within the next ten years, the optical
media technology included CD-ROMs. Five years later, DVDs were also released.
Mid-1980s saw 18 litre water bottles that were placed on water coolers being
made of polycarbonate too. The year 1987 made polycarbonate highly popular in
the medical industry by introducing its usage in a variety of medical devices
like blood filters, blood oxygenators, blood reservoirs, and kidney dialysis
cartridges. By the end of 1980s, polycarbonate was popularly used in automotive
headlamps too.
Polycarbonate became highly popular in the 1990s because of
its high performance as a resin. However, it was in a slightly different form
then as compared to what we see today. In 2010, polycarbonates became so highly
popular that they started being used for commercial and residential furniture. And
today, we all know how popular polycarbonate has become to replace glass, acrylic,
and other traditional materials in a variety of applications.
Today, the process of manufacturing polycarbonate has become
very streamlined, which begins with the distillation of hydrocarbon fuels into
lighter groups known as fractions. These fractions are used in combination with
different catalysts to create polycarbonates of different varieties, utilizing
the processes of polycondensation or polymerization. There are varieties of
grades of polycarbonates being made today, depending on the manufacturer and
his processes. Tuflite Polymers produces A-grade quality polycarbonate panels in various categories like solid, textured,
corrugated, profiled, and multiwalls.
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