Polymethyl methacrylate

History

Polymethyl methacrylate was discovered in the early 1930s by British chemists Rowland Hill and John Crawford at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) in the United Kingdom. ICI registered the product under the trademark Perspex. About the same time, chemist and industrialist Otto Röhm of Röhm and Haas AG in Germany attempted to produce safety glass by polymerizing methyl methacrylate between two layers of glass. The polymer separated from the glass as a clear plastic sheet, which Röhm gave the trademarked name Plexiglas in 1933. Both Perspex and Plexiglas were commercialized in the late 1930s. In the United States, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company subsequently introduced its own product under the trademark Lucite. In 1936, ICI Acrylics began the first commercially viable production of acrylic safety glass. During World War II, both Allied and Axis forces used acrylic glass for submarine periscopes and aircraft windscreen, canopies, and gun turrets. Scraps of acrylic were also used to make clear pistol grips for the M1911A1 pistol or clear handle grips for the M1 bayonet or theater knives so that soldiers could put small photos of loved ones or pin-up girls' pictures inside. They were called "Sweetheart Grips" or "Pin-up Grips". Others were used to make handles for theater knives made from scrap materials. Civilian applications followed after the war.