Dr. Arthur Eichengrün
Cellon-Werke
Inducted 2024
Arthur Eichengrün (1867 – 1949) was a Jewish chemist, materials scientist, and inventor who began his career with Bayer & Company in Germany in 1896. He is known for developing the highly successful anti-gonorrhea drug Protargol, for co-discovering aspirin, and his pioneering contributions in plastics. Eichengrün co-developed the first soluble cellulose acetate materials in 1903, called Cellit, and influenced the early development of plastic injection molding.
He contributed to photochemistry by inventing the first process for producing and developing cellulose acetate film, which he patented with Theodore Becker in 1903. It was used to manufacture cinematographic film, which Eastman Kodak and the Pathé Frères began using in 1909. Cellulose acetate film became the standard and was preferred over the highly flammable film produced from nitrocellulose.
Eichengrün left Bayer in 1908 and started his lab and manufacturing plant, Cellon-Werke. He advanced the science of injection molding by developing the first injection molding press in 1919. He developed a type of flame-resistant plastic called Cellon, in great demand during World War I for pilots’ goggles and soldiers’ gas masks. The company also created a fire-resistant cellulose acetate coating for the fabric used on aircraft, making their wings water-resistant.
Eichengrün and Becker invented the first soluble forms of cellulose acetate in 1903. This material was much less flammable than cellulose nitrate and was made available in a powder form, from which it was readily injection molded. In 1939, Eichengrün patented the injection molding of plasticized cellulose acetate. The injection molding industry expanded rapidly in the 1940s because World War II created a huge need for inexpensive, mass-produced products.
In 1933, the Nazis forced Eichengrün to sell his company. Ten years later, he was imprisoned and, in 1944, was sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp. He was freed on May 8, 1945, when Soviet troops liberated the camp. He returned to Berlin after the war to continue his scientific work in private. Eichengrün held 47 patents.