Editing Petrochemical (section)

== History ==
In 1835, [[Henri Victor Regnault]], a French chemist left [[vinyl chloride]] in the sun and found white solid at the bottom of the flask which was [[polyvinyl chloride]]. In 1839, [[Eduard Simon]] discovered polystyrene by accident by distilling [[Storax balsam|storax]]. In 1856, [[William Henry Perkin]] discovered the first synthetic dye, [[Mauveine]]. In 1888, [[Friedrich Reinitzer]], an Austrian plant scientist observed [[cholesteryl benzoate]] had two different melting points. In 1909, [[Leo Baekeland|Leo Hendrik Baekeland]] invented [[bakelite]] made from [[phenol]] and [[formaldehyde]]. In 1920, [[Union Carbide]] built in [[West Virginia]] first petrochemical plant in the world.<ref>Alec Ross, '[[The Industries of the Future]], Simon&Schuster, 2016, pp. 7-8</ref> In 1928, [[synthetic fuel]]s were invented using [[Fischer–Tropsch process|Fischer-Tropsch process]]. In 1929, [[Walter Bock]] invented synthetic rubber [[Buna-S]] which is made up of [[styrene]] and [[1,3-Butadiene|butadiene]] and used to make car tires. In 1933, [[Otto Röhm]] polymerized the first acrylic glass [[methyl methacrylate]]. In 1935, [[Michael Perrin]] invented [[polyethylene]]. In 1937, [[Wallace Carothers|Wallace Hume Carothers]] invented [[nylon]]. In 1938, [[Otto Bayer]] invented [[polyurethane]]. In 1941, [[Roy J. Plunkett|Roy Plunkett]] invented [[Teflon]]. In 1946, he invented [[Polyester]]. [[Polyethylene terephthalate]] (PET) bottles are made from [[ethylene]] and [[P-Xylene|paraxylene]]. In 1949, Fritz Stastny turned [[polystyrene]] into foam. After World War II, [[polypropylene]] was discovered in the early 1950s. In 1965, [[Stephanie Kwolek]] invented [[Kevlar]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.petrochemistry.eu/about-petrochemistry/timeline/|title=Timeline – Petrochemicals Europe|website=www.petrochemistry.eu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-07}}</ref>