The historical journey of discovering polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was full of fascinating coincidences and scientific drama.
PVC was first produced purely by accident in 1835 by French chemist, physicist, and mining engineer Henri Victor Regnault. He left a test tube containing a solution of vinyl chloride on a sunlit windowsill. A few days later, he noticed a mysterious white powder that had precipitated at the bottom of the tube.
In 1872, PVC was rediscovered independently. This time, it entered scientific literature through German chemist Eugen Baumann. Much like Regnault, Baumann synthesized the white polymer accidentally under sunlight exposure.
In 1878, the polymer product of vinyl chloride was investigated in greater detail for the first time, but due to its hardness and brittleness at the time, industrial commercialization was postponed.
Industrial-grade PVC was finally pioneered in 1912 when German chemist Fritz Klatte reacted acetylene with gaseous hydrogen chloride. In 1913, the revolutionary synthetic plastic was officially patented.