Henri Victor Regnault, a French chemist and physicist, mainly studied gases and experimented with vinyl chloride gas. Once, he left a sample sitting in the sun. He was surprised to find a white solid at the bottom of the flask. This turned out to be polyvinyl chloride, more commonly known as PVC
It was not until 80 years later, in 1912, that German chemist Dr. Fritz Klatte developed a new process for producing vinyl chloride using sunlight. He became the first inventor to receive a patent for PVC, yet he failed to realise the potential it had. He attempted to use PVC in commercial products, but difficulties in processing the rigid, sometimes brittle polymer frustrated his efforts.
No real use for PVC was found until an American inventor, Waldo Semon, discovered a method to plasticise PVC in 1926. He blended it with various additives. The result was a more flexible material that was easy to use in many ways.
The material proved to be perfect for making shower curtains. Also, it’s waterproof, so designers started to use it for many products such as golf balls and shoe heels. Today, PVC is used in hundreds of products such as raincoats, electric wires coatings, window frames, floor tiles, paints, water pipes and bottles.
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