Charles Sundy Schollenberger (August 8, 1922 - January 25, 2002) was an American chemist. He invented the first

thermoplastic polyurethane Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) is any of a class of polyurethane plastics with many properties, including elasticity, transparency, and resistance to oil, grease, and abrasion. Technically, they are thermoplastic elastomers consisting of linea ...

(Estane).

Early life

Schollenberger was born in 1922, on the campus of the

Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) is the research institution of the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. The center is home to research projects ranging from plant and animal sci ...

in Wooster, to agronomist Charles Jay and Anne (Sundy) Schollenberger. His childhood interest in chemistry began when his father let him perform experiments in his lab. Schollenberger graduated from Wooster High School in 1940. He earned an AB degree in chemistry from the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

in 1943. He completed his doctoral degree in

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...

in 1947 at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. On October 15, 1949, he married Katharine Rosanne Kennon. In 2009, son Charles David Schollenberger set up the Charles Schollenberger Arboretum Visitors Center Biological Lab Endowment at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Career

Schollenberger was hired at

B. F. Goodrich The Goodrich Corporation, formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, was an American manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Benjamin Goodrich, the company name was ch ...

in 1947 by

Waldo Semon Waldo Lonsbury Semon (September 10, 1898 – May 26, 1999) was an American inventor born in Demopolis, Alabama. He is credited with inventing methods for making polyvinyl chloride useful. Biography He was born on September 10, 1898. Semon ...

, helping to open a new research center in Brecksville, Ohio in 1948. In 1952, Schollenberger patented the first thermoplastic polyurethane. He continued developing the product until 1958 when the new material debuted under the trade name Estane. It is a strong, flexible, abrasion-resistant material that was used in textile coatings, tennis shoe soles, automobile parts, as well as

magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magne ...

. Schollenberg was promoted to R&D Fellow - the highest research position at Goodrich in 1975. He was a prolific inventor, with 18 U.S. and 10 foreign patents. Schollenberger retired in 1984, when Estane accounted for roughly one third of specialty chemical sales at the company.

Recognition

* 1989 - Urethane Medal from Great Britain's Plastics and Rubber Group * 1991 -

Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award The Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award is a professional award conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1983, the award is named after Melvin Mooney, developer of the Mooney viscometer and of the Moone ...

from Rubber Division of the ACS

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schollenberger, Charles Sundy 1922 births 2002 deaths Polymer scientists and engineers 20th-century American engineers Cornell University alumni