Thursday, 23 March 2017
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.