Perlon (nylon 6)
Perlón (nailon 6)
- Date
- 1938 · confidence high
- Place
- Berlin, Germany
- Credited to
- Paul Schlack (IG Farben)
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A polyamide fibre obtained by polymerisation of caprolactam, first spun on 29 January 1938. It is the German equivalent of nylon, with a different synthesis that sidestepped DuPont's patents.
Schlack worked in Berlin-Lichtenberg and arrived at caprolactam by a route different from Carothers's; Perlon is an IG Farben trademark. Industrial production began in 1939-1940.
What it led to
- perlon stockings and fabrics in Nazi Germany and postwar years
- nylon 6 as the second major polyamide type worldwide
- carpets, ropes and brush bristles