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The Winnington Laboratory was a former chemical laboratory at
Winnington Winnington is a small, mainly residential area of the town of Northwich in Cheshire, England. Industry Winnington is the home to Brunner Mond UK chemical works, where soda ash is created. Polythene, the material used in many plastic items (e.g ...
, near
Northwich {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...
, in
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...
, England.


History

The Winnington Works were built in 1874. The laboratory was set up by the ICI Alkali Division of
Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...
. The chemist
Francis Arthur Freeth Francis Arthur Freeth (2 January 1884 – 15 July 1970) was a British industrial chemist. He spent much of his career at Brunner Mond and its successor Imperial Chemical Industries, as chief chemist, research manager and in a recruiting capaci ...
arrived in 1907, and became head of the laboratory. ICI was formed in 1926.


Discovery of polythene

On 24 March 1933 two scientists conducted an experiment that produced polythene (
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including ...
).
Benzaldehyde Benzaldehyde (C6H5CHO) is an organic compound consisting of a benzene ring with a formyl substituent. It is the simplest aromatic aldehyde and one of the most industrially useful. It is a colorless liquid with a characteristic almond-like odor. ...
was reacted with ethene (
ethylene Ethylene ( IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon-carbon double bonds). Ethylene ...
) at 2,000 atmospheres pressure. Sir Michael Perrin worked with this group of scientists from October 1933 until 1938.''New Scientist'' 24 January 1957
/ref> In December 1935 he conducted an experiment that allowed polythene to be created. Polythene is the world's most widespread
plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
. In 1958, manufacture of polythene was moved to ICI's plant in Hertfordshire (ICI Plastics).


Structure

The laboratory was off the
A533 The A533 road or the Bridgewater Expressway is a road linking Rode Heath in Cheshire, England with Widnes, also in Cheshire. Route The road follows this route: *Rode Heath () * Sandbach * Middlewich *Northwich {{Infobox UK place , st ...
next to the
River Weaver The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...
and south of
Barnton, Cheshire Barnton is a civil parish and village in the northwest region of England, just outside the town of Northwich, in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It lies north and east of the Trent & Mers ...
. The nearby chemical works makes soda ash ( sodium carbonate). 280 staff worked at the laboratory.


See also

*
Billingham Manufacturing Plant The Billingham Manufacturing Plant is a large chemical works based in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, England. In agricultural terms, it is one of the most important factories in Britain. History Brunner Mond Ammonia had first been made in ...
, former ICI fertiliser plant * British Plastics Federation * ICI Fibres Research Centre at Harrogate * Widnes Laboratory, where the world's first synthetic
general anaesthetic General anaesthetics (or anesthetics, see spelling differences) are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced com ...
gas was developed


References


External links


Science Museum ICI Polythene archive
{{Cheshire Chemical industry in the United Kingdom Imperial Chemical Industries Research institutes in Cheshire Northwich