Wallace Carothers

Nylon

Nylon 66 is the first commercially successful synthetic thermoplastic polymer. It was synthesised on February 28, 1935, by Gerard Berchet under Wallace Carothers’ direction at DuPont’s Experimental Station. It is formed by step-growth polymerization of hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid into polyamide 6-6. Its strength and elasticity were confirmed in the first sample, enabled by cold drawing. DuPont patented it in September 1938 and secured a monopoly—prompting Paul Schlack at IG Farben to develop nylon 6 from caprolactam in January 1938. The work began as fundamental research on linear super-polymers with no practical aim.