Roll Over Image to Zoom ‹ Back to Collection

Nylon Ribbon from 50-lb Autoclave

  • ca. 1935
  • Manufactured by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
  • 1.75 in. H x 16.75 in. diameter
    Nylon
  • On display in Making Modernity
  • Gift of Joseph X. Labovsky
  • The Joseph X. Labovsky Collection
  • 2004.543.205

Description

This spool of nylon ribbon was produced at the DuPont semi-works in Seaford, Delaware, in 1938.

Nylon, developed in the late 1930s by a team headed by Wallace Carothers at E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, was the first totally synthetic fiber. Developed as a replacement for natural silk, nylon is a simple monomer-chain polymer created by polymerizing a polyamide in a salt mixture.

Search Our Online Collections

E-mail Print Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Distillations

Listen to the latest episodes of CHF’s award-winning science podcast.

 

Support CHF

Help us preserve and share the history of chemistry and related sciences. Make a tax-deductible donation online.