Molecular aspects of the dielectric relaxation of solid polymers

Whilst the discovery and development of manmade polymer materials dates from the pioneering works of Goodyear (vulcanized rubber) and Hyatt (celluloid plastics) in the mid-nineteenth century, and to Baekeland (phenol-formaldehyde resins) at the beginning of this century, the remarkable growth of the synthetic fibre, rubber and plastics industries followed the preparative achievements of the I.C.I. group in Cheshire (polyethylene), Carothers at du Pont, Wilmington (linear polyesters and nylons) and the German chemists (polyvinyl halides) in the 1930's, and the U.S. Government Synthetic Rubber Program during World War II. The ability to vary chemical structure and composition (e.g. for copolymers) and physical structure (by fillers, plasticizers, thermal and mechanical treatments, processing methods) made it possible to create materials which could be tailor-made for a particular application. Thus the industries grew to the dominant positions they hold today.