Who invented foam

In an experiment in which he combined styrene with isobutylene, he was surprised to find that the isobutylene formed tiny bubbles within the styrene. McIntire had accidentally invented foam polystyrene that was 30 times lighter and more flexible than solid polystyrene. The new material also exhibited outstanding thermal and moisture-resistant properties and was inexpensive to make.

McIntire remained at Dow Chemical for his entire career. He was promoted to research director, and later worked in the company's consumer and venture capital divisions. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! Important disclaimer information about this About site. Depression Self-Test Vitamins for Depression? Most Popular Articles. Latest Articles. See Online Courses. All Topics Email Article. All rights reserved. Inventors Polystyrene and Styrofoam By Mary Bellis Polystyrene is a strong plastic created from erethylene and benzine that can be injected, extruded or blow molded, making it a very useful and versatile manufacturing material.

Even more problematic, the finished material can take thousands of years, and perhaps more, to biodegrade. From to about million metric tons of polystyrene were produced globally, with more than half thrown out inside of a year. As for all the polystyrene foam already floating around, scientists have investigated some novel solutions. An experiment published in suggested that after superheating the stuff into styrene oil, a strain of Pseudomonas putida , a type of soil bacteria, could convert the oil into a biodegradable form of plastic—polyhydroxyalkanoate, or PHA.

Unfortunately, the process consumes a lot of energy and produces toxic by-products, such as toluene. Perhaps more promising, in a group of Chinese researchers published a report showing mealworms can survive on a diet of polystyrene foam as successfully as those fed a typical diet of bran. And in a team of European scientists found that waxworms had a similar appetite for polyethylene plastic bags.

Is it possible we or rather our larval friends could eat our way out of our garbage problem? Michal Meyer reviews James C.