Freon-12 (dichlorodifluoromethane)
Freón-12 (diclorodifluorometano)
- Date
- 1930 · confidence high
- Place
- General Motors Research Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, United States
- Credited to
- Thomas Midgley Jr., under Charles F. Kettering
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Searching for a safe refrigerant to replace toxic or flammable gases such as ammonia or sulfur dioxide, Midgley synthesised dichlorodifluoromethane, colourless, odourless, non-toxic and non-flammable, marketed as Freon-12.
The team developed several related chlorofluorocarbons in the same years (R-11, R-22, R-113, R-114) through Kinetic Chemicals, a DuPont-General Motors joint venture.
What it led to
- Widespread adoption of household refrigeration and air conditioning
- Use as an aerosol propellant
- CFC-driven catalytic ozone depletion (discovered 1974) and the Montreal Protocol ban