What Is Bakelite?

Also called bakelite. Commonly known as phenolic plastic with wood flour as filler. Bakelite powder or bakelite powder is a phenolic compression molding powder mainly using wood powder as a filler. Plastic products made from bakelite powder or bakelite powder are called bakelite products or bakelite products.

Also called bakelite. Commonly known as phenolic plastic with wood flour as filler. Bakelite powder or bakelite powder is a phenolic compression molding powder mainly using wood powder as a filler. Plastic products made from bakelite powder or bakelite powder are called bakelite products or bakelite products.

Chinese name

bakelite

Foreign name

bakelite

density

1.3-1.4 g / cm3

Also known as

Bakelite

Bakelite bakelite appliances

Traditionally, people often use bakelite, electrical, nylon, plastic, rubber, ceramic and other insulating materials as the base electrical appliances collectively referred to as bakelite electrical appliances. It is an indispensable electrical connector between an electrical appliance and a power source, or a switch that opens and closes the circuit. Bakelite appliances mainly include lamp holders, wire boxes, switches, plugs, and sockets. This type of electrical appliances has a large production volume and a wide range of uses, and is the most widely used type in the household appliance family ^[1] .

Application of bakelite

It is suitable for making insulating mechanism parts of electrical appliances and meters, and can be used in hot and humid conditions. Common bakelite products are: bakelite records, bakelite handwheels, pull handles, handles, and handles.

Bakelite products (13 photos)

Development of Bakelite Bakelite

The secretions of some trees often form resin, but amber is the fossil of resin. Although shellac is also regarded as resin, it is the sediment that lac insects secrete on the tree. Shellac lacquer made of shellac was originally only used as a preservative for wood, but became the earliest insulating varnish with the invention of the motor. However, since the 20th century, natural products have been unable to meet the needs of electrification, prompting people to find new cheap substitutes.
As early as 1872, the German chemist A. Bayer first discovered that phenol and formaldehyde could quickly form red-brown hard masses or stickies when heated under acidic conditions, but the experiment was stopped because they could not be purified by classical methods. After the 20th century, phenol has been obtained in large quantities from coal tar, and formaldehyde has also been produced in large quantities as preservatives. Therefore, the reaction products of the two have attracted more attention, and hope to develop useful products, although many people have spent huge labor for it. , But did not achieve the expected results.
In 1904, Bakerland and his assistant also carried out this research. The original purpose was only to hope that it could be made of insulating paint instead of natural resin. After three years of hard work, not only the insulating paint was produced in the summer of 1907. And also made a real synthetic plastic material-Bakelite, it is known as "bakelite" "bakelite" or phenolic resin.
Once Bakelite came out, manufacturers soon discovered that it can not only manufacture a variety of electrical insulation products, but also daily necessities. T. Edison was used to make records, and soon announced in advertisements that thousands of Bakelite had been produced. This kind of product, for a time, praised Beckland's invention as the "alchemy" of the 20th century.

German chemist Bayer also made a huge contribution to the application of bakelite.

One day in 1905, German chemist Beyer experimented with phenol and formaldehyde in a flask and found that a thick thing was formed. He washed it with water, couldn't wash it off, and changed to gasoline, alcohol and other organic Solvent, still not work, which caused Bayel's brains. Later, he tried his best to finally get rid of this "nasty" thing. Bayel was relieved and left it in the waste bin. in.

After a few days, Bayer was about to dump the contents of the waste bin. At that moment, he saw the piece again. The surface was smooth and shiny with a seductive luster. Bayer took it out curiously. , When grilled on the fire, it no longer softened, fell to the ground, it did not break, saw with a saw, it turned out smoothly, keen Bayer immediately thought that this might be a kind of Very good new material.

After people's experiments, it turned out that this once "nasty" thing is now too "flattering". It does not leak water, does not deform under heat, has a certain mechanical strength, is easy to process, and has good insulation. This is simply ideal for the emerging electrical industry. Therefore, it was widely used in the production of electrical appliances such as electric switches, light switches, lamp holders, telephones, and so on, for which reason it got the name bakelite.

Development Status of Bakelite

The phenolic resin with coal tar as the primary pellet had been the leader in the production of various synthetic resins until 1940, reaching more than 200,000 tons per year. However, with the development of petrochemical industry, polymerized synthetic resins such as polyethylene, The output of polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene has also been continuously expanding. With the establishment of many large factories with an annual output of more than 100,000 tons of these products, they have become the four types of synthetic resins with the highest output today. Synthetic resins and additives can be used to obtain plastic products through various molding methods. Today, there are dozens of types of plastics. The world's annual output is about 120 million tons. China is also more than 5 million tons. They have become production and living. And basic materials for national defense construction.
Synthetic resin is the main component of plastic, and its content in plastic is generally 40% to 100%. Because of the large content, and the nature of the resin often determines the nature of plastic, people often think of resin as a synonym for plastic. For example, polyvinyl chloride resin is mixed with polyvinyl chloride plastic, phenolic resin is mixed with phenolic plastic. In fact, resin and plastic are two different concepts. Resin is an unprocessed virgin polymer that is used not only to make plastics, but also to make coatings, adhesives, and synthetic fibers. In addition to a very small proportion of plastics containing 100% resin, most plastics, in addition to the main component resin, need to add other substances.