Alexander Parkes
Alexander Parkes (December 29 1813 - June 29 1890) was a metallurgist and inventor from Birmingham, England. He developed the first form of celluloid.
The son of a brass lock manufacturer, Parkes was apprenticed to a brass founder at Messenger and Sons before going to work for George amd Henry Elkington, who patented the electroplating process. Parkes was put in charge of the casting department, and his attention soon began to focus on electroplating, a recently discovered process. Parkes took out his first patent (No. 8005) in 1841 on a process for electroplating delicate works of art. His improved method for electroplating fine and fragile objects, such as flowers, was granted a patent in 1843. In total he held 66 patents on processes and products related to electroplating and plastic development.
In 1856 he developed Parkesine - the first thermoplastic - a celluloid based on nitrocellulose with ethanol solvent. This material, exhibited at the 1862 London International Exhibition, anticipated many of the modern aesthetic and utility uses of plastics.
In 1866 he set up The Parkesine Company at Hackney Wick, London, for bulk low-cost production. It was not, however, a commercial success as Parkesine was expensive to produce, prone to cracking and highly flammable. The business was wound up in 1868.
Parkes' material was developed later in improved form as Xylonite by his associate Daniel Spill, who brought a patent infringement lawsuit - ultimately unsuccessful - against John Wesley Hyatt, developer of celluloid in the U.S. in 1870.
External links
Both links from the Plastics Historical Society.
- New materials: Plastics - Making the Modern World online exhibit, Science Museum, London.