Polyester...Nylon... Now What?

Chemists at DuPont were still not satisfied after they discovered nylon. They wanted yet another stiffer and tougher nylon-type of material. But this time the new material was not discovered by Carothers; instead, it was found by Stephanie L. Kwolek.

What was the new material's name? Kevlar. This miraculous new material was five times stronger than the same weight of steel. Kwolek discovered Kevlar when she developed a liquid crystal polymer that could be cold-spun. This polymer that she synthesized was known as an aromatic polymer, which means one that is spun with a solvent rather than melt spun. As a result of this, DuPont spent over $500 million towards research on this. It won the National Medal of Technology in 1996, and Forbes magazine called it "a miracle in search of a market." Thus, DuPont found a use for this material in tires at a plant in Virginia, but today Kevlar is well known as the body armor that policemen and soldiers wear.