Bakeland process (Bakelite) - wiki

Phenol formaldehyde resins (PF) are synthetic polymers obtained by the reaction of phenol or substituted phenol with formaldehyde. Used as the basis for Bakelite, PFs were the first commercial synthetic resins (plastics). They have been widely used for the production of molded products including billiard balls, laboratory countertops, and as coatings and adhesives. They were at one time the primary material used for the production of circuit boards but have been largely replaced with epoxy resins and fiberglass cloth, as with fire-resistant FR-4 circuit board materials.

Trade names

• Bakelite is made from phenolic resin and wood flour.
• Novotext is cotton fibre-reinforced phenolic, using randomly oriented fibres.
• Oasis is "an open-celled phenolic foam that readily absorbs water and is used as a base for flower arrangements."
• Maritex Aquarius is a very high performance bearing material made using novolac resin, fibre reinforcement and added lubricants for momentary dry run situations. It is also used dry at slow speeds and high pressures, showing very low wear rates of shaft or bearing.

Bakelite (/ˈbeɪkəlaɪt/ bay-kə-lyt, sometimes spelled Baekelite), orpolyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, is an early plastic. It is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. It was developed by the Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland in New York in 1907.

Color chart for Bakelite "Jewel" quality colors (cast resin or "Clear Material"), 1924

Wood flour is finely pulverized wood that has a consistency fairly equal to sand or sawdust, but can vary considerably, with particles ranging in size from a fine powder to roughly the size of a grain of rice.

Leo Henricus Arthur Baekeland FRSE (Hon) (November 14, 1863 – February 23, 1944) was a Belgian-American chemist. He is best known for the inventions of Velox photographic paper in 1893 and Bakelite in 1907. He has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry": for his invention of Bakelite, an inexpensive, nonflammable, versatile, and popular plastic, which marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry. Born in Ghent, Belgium.

Novotext is a trade name for cotton textile-phenolic resin, essentially cotton-reinforced Bakelite. It was often used in car engines for gear wheels used to provide a direct drive to thecamshaft as it is flexible and quiet-running. One of the first luxury cars to use this material for its camshaft drive gears was the Maybach Zeppelin of 1928. The material is known under various other names such as Turbax, Resitex,Celoron and Textolit. In bar form it is also known as Cartatextiel and Ferrozell and in sheet form as Harex, Tufnol and Micarta.

Tufnol (Novotext) plate

Production is achieved through the use of chopped strand mat (CSM) technique.