Nylon

Nylon

Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...

 6 or polycaprolactam is a polymer

Polymer

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...

 developed by Paul Schlack

Paul Schlack

Paul Schlack was born on 22 December 1897 and completed his studies at the Technical University of Stuttgart in 1921. He worked as a research chemist in Copenhagen for a year, then returned to Stuttgart. He received his PhD in 1924. Around this time he developed a keen interest in amide chemistry...

 at IG Farben

IG Farben

I.G. Farbenindustrie AG was a German chemical industry conglomerate. Its name is taken from Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG . The company was formed in 1925 from a number of major companies that had been working together closely since World War I...

 to reproduce the properties of nylon 6,6

Nylon 6-6

Nylon 6-6, also referred to as nylon 6,6, is a type of nylon. Nylon comes in many types, the two most common for textile and plastics industries are: nylon 6 and nylon 6,6.- Composition :...

 without violating the patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

 on its production. Unlike most other nylon

Nylon

Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers known generically as polyamides, first produced on February 28, 1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPont's research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station...

s, nylon 6 is not a condensation polymer

Condensation polymer

Condensation polymers are any kind of polymers formed through a condensation reaction, releasing small molecules as by-products such as water or methanol, as opposed to addition polymers which involve the reaction of unsaturated monomers...

, but instead is formed by ring-opening polymerization

Ring-opening polymerization

In polymer chemistry, ring-opening polymerization is a form of chain-growth polymerization, in which the terminal end of a polymer acts as a reactive center, where further cyclic monomers join to form a larger polymer chain through ionic propagation...

. This makes it a special case in the comparison between condensation and addition polymer

Addition polymer

An addition polymer is a polymer which is formed by an addition reaction, where many monomers bond together via rearrangement of bonds without the loss of any atom or molecule...

s. Its competition

Competition

Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...

 with nylon 6,6 and the example it set have also shaped the economics of the synthetic fiber

Synthetic fiber

Synthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by scientists to improve on naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. In general, synthetic fibers are created by forcing, usually through extrusion, fiber forming materials through holes into the air, forming a thread...

 industry.