Polymer science be considered polymer science in the modern sense. In the 1840s, Friedrich Ludersdorf and Nathaniel Hayward independently discovered that adding sulfur to raw natural rubber (polyisoprene) helped prevent the material from becoming sticky. In 1844 Charles Goodyear received a U.S. patent for vulcanizing natural rubber with sulfur and heat. Thomas Hancock had received a patent for the same process in the UK the year before. This process strengthened natural rubber and prevented it from melting with heat without losing flexibility. This made practical products such as waterproofed articles possible. It also facilitated practical manufacture of such rubberized materials. Vulcanized rubber
Texas Gulf Sulfur Company Texas Gulf Sulfur Company The Texas Gulf Sulphur Company was one of the largest sulfur mining companies in the world from 1919 to 1981. The Gulf Sulphur Company was formed on December 23, 1909 by a group of investors from St. Louis and Texas. The company was formed to exploit the newly discovered sulfur deposit in the Big Hill salt dome near Matagorda, Texas, using the Frasch Process. In 1916 Bernard Baruch and J.P. Morgan took control of the company and Seeley W. Mudd became President. On 16 July 1918, the company was renamed the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company. Construction