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CAS number9003-35-4
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CAS number9003-35-4
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Dr. Baekeland had originally set out to find a replacement for shellac, made from the excretion of lac beetles. Chemists had begun to recognize that many natural resins and fibres were polymers, and Baekeland investigated the reactions of phenol and formaldehyde. He first produced a soluble phenol-formaldehyde shellac called "Novolak" that never became a market success, then turned to developing a binder for asbestos which, at that time, was molded with rubber. By controlling the pressure and temperature applied to phenol and formaldehyde, he produced a hard moldable material and patented in 1907 known as Bakelite.[2][3] It was the first synthetic thermosetting plastic ever made. It was often referred to as "the material of 1000 uses", a phrase originated by Baekeland himself.[4] He announced the invention at a meeting of the American Chemical Society on February 5, 1909.[5]

The Bakelite Corporation was formed in 1922 (after patent litigation favorable to Baekeland) from a merger of three companies: the General Bakelite Company, which Baekeland founded in 1910, the Condensite Company, founded by J.W. Aylesworth, and the Redmanol Chemical Products Company, founded by L.V. Redman.[6] A factory was built near Bound Brook, New Jersey, in 1929.[7]

Bakelite Limited, a merger of three British phenol formaldehyde resin suppliers (Damard Lacquer Company Limited of Birmingham, Mouldensite Limited of Darley Dale and Redmanol Chemical Products Company of London) was formed in 1926. A new factory opened in Tyseley, Birmingham, England around 1928. It was demolished in 1998.



Phenolics are more rarely used in general consumer products today, due to the cost and complexity of production and their brittle nature. Nevertheless they are still used in some applications where their specific properties are required, such as small precision-shaped components, molded disc brake cylinders, saucepan handles, electrical plugs and switches and parts for electrical irons. Today, Bakelite is manufactured and produced in sheet, rod and tube form for hundreds of industrial applications in the electronics, power generation and aerospace industries, and under a variety of commercial brand names.

Bakelite distributor rotor
Bakelite letter opener circa 1920



Applications and usage

Bakelite radio at Bakelite museum

In its industrial applications, Bakelite was particularly suitable for the emerging electrical and automobile industries because of its extraordinarily high resistance - not only to electricity, but to heat and chemical action. It was soon used for all nonconducting parts of radios and other electrical devices, such as bases and sockets for light bulbs and vacuum tubes, supports for electrical components, automobile distributor caps and other insulators.

Bakelite is used today for wire insulation, brake pads and related automotive components, and industrial electrical-related applications.

In the early 20th Century, it was found in myriad applications including saxophone mouthpieces, whistles, cameras, solid-body electric guitars, telephone housings and handsets, early machine guns, pistol grips, and appliance casings. In the pure form it was made into such articles as pipe stems, buttons, etc.

The thermosetting phenolic resin was at one point considered for the manufacture of coins, due to a shortage of traditional material; in 1943, Bakelite and other non-metal materials were tested for usage for the one cent coin in the US before the Mint settled on zinc-coated steel.[8][9]

After the Second World War, factories were retrofitted to produce Bakelite using a more efficient extrusion process which increased production and enabled the uses of Bakelite to extend into other genres: jewelry boxes, desk sets, clocks, radios, game pieces like chessmen, poker chips, billiard balls and Mah Jong sets. Kitchenware such as canisters and tableware were also made of Bakelite through the 1950s. Beads, bangles and earrings were produced by the Catalin Company which introduced 15 new colors in 1927. The creation of marbled Bakelite was also attributed to the Catalin Company. Translucent Bakelite jewelry, poker chips and other gaming items such as chess sets were also introduced in the 1940s under the Prystal Corporation name; however, its basic chemical composition remained the same.


Bakelite is used to make the presentation boxes of Breitling watches and sometimes as a substitute for metal firearm magazines. Bakelite is also used in the mounting of metal samples in metallography.[10]



US Patent 942699 for the bakelite product.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Baekeland a patent for a "Method of making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde" on December 7, 1909.[12] Producing hard, compact, insoluble and infusable condensation products of phenols and formaldehyde marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry.[13]

Other similar plastics and products


  1. ^ ACS National Historic Chemical Landmark, Bakelite: The World's First Synthetic Plastic (1993).
  3. ^ "Leo Baekeland". Plastics. 28 June 2000. 
  4. ^ Cook, Patrick (1993). Bakelite: An Illustrated Guide to Collectible Bakelite Objects. London: Apple. 
  7. ^
  8. ^ J2051/P2073 Accessed July 28, 2006
  10. ^, Metallographic Preparation Mounting
  11. ^ Roads to Space: an oral history of the Soviet space program
  12. ^ US patent 942699, Leo H. Baekeland, "Method of making insoluble products of phenol and formaldehyde", issued 1909-12-07 
  13. ^ US Patent #942,699
  14. ^ Biobakelite

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