Lorin Beryl Sebrell (19 November 1894 – 5 August 1984) was an American scientist at the

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, ...

noted for identifying

mercaptobenzothiazole 2-Mercaptobenzothiazole is an organosulfur compound with the formula . It is used in the sulfur vulcanization of rubber. Structure The molecule is planar with a C=S double bond, so the name ''mercapto''benzothiazole is a misnomer. It is not a ...

as a vulcanization accelerator. In 1942, Sebrell received the

Charles Goodyear Medal The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed c ...

Biography

Sebrell was born on 19 November 1894 in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 21 ...

. In 1918, he married Ruth Ellen Tullis. He received his B.S. in chemistry from

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduate ...

. After completing his M.S., he served in the

Chemical Warfare Service The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. The Chemical Warfare Service was established on 28 June 1918, combining activities that until ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1922 from

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 ...

after starting work at Goodyear in 1919. In 1920 Sebrell isolated

, an important rubber vulcanization accelerator from various reactions. Although well known since the 1880s, Sebrell's insight was that it is generated in situ during the zinc-catalyzed vulcanization of rubber. He devised ways of producing mercaptothiazole on a commercial scale. The new accelerator was named Captax. Captax, which was vital in achieving durable truck-tire compounds, was placed on the market in 1926. While at Goodyear, Sebrell held positions including Head of Organic Chemistry section, and Manager of Research in 1928. In 1933, Sebrell served as Chairman of the Rubber Division, ACS. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Sebrell worked on bullet-sealing fuel tanks. In 1949, Sebrell left Goodyear to take a position as Director of research and development at

International Latex Corporation Playtex is an American brand name for undergarments, baby products, gloves, feminine hygiene products, and sunscreen. The brand began in 1947 when International Latex Corporation (ILC) created a division named Playtex to produce and sell latex p ...

Dover, Delaware Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part of ...

. He retired from this position in 1959. Sebrell died in

Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan statistical area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, th ...

on 5 August 1984 at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebrell, Lorin B. Polymer scientists and engineers 1894 births 1984 deaths Tire industry people