Eastern Regional Research Laboratory

The commodities studied at the Eastern Regional Research Laboratory, near Philadelphia, comprise milk, tobacco, animal fats and oils, vegetables, apples, hides, leather, and tanning materials.

Whey, a byproduct in the production of cheese and casein from milk, contains lactose, or milk sugar, which can be transformed into lactic acid by the action of certain micro-organisms. From lactic acid a material known as methylacrylate can be produced. When this methylacrylate is combined with such materials as butadiene, isoprene, and so forth, it can be converted into a rubberlike material known as Lactoprene. The vulcanizing or curing characteristics of three types of Lactoprenes have been studied extensively. The resulting materials are resistant to oil, oxidation, sunlight, and heat and appear to have possibilities for the manufacture of various kinds of articles for special uses.

The kind of synthetic rubber now being produced in greatest volume results from the combining of butadiene and styrene while they are suspended as minute globules in an emulsion. Much difficulty was experienced with the soaps that were used to prepare the emulsion. Because about 90 million pounds of tallow a year are needed for such soap, the Eastern Laboratory, in cooperation with the Rubber Reserve Company, undertook an investigation of tallow and tallow soaps in order to determine the effect of minor constituents of the tallows on the polymerization process. The investigators found that the presence of certain minor constituents in the soap was largely responsible for the retarded polymerization of the synthetic rubber. They also learned that a hydrogenation of the tallows before they were used for the preparation of soap would completely eliminate the troublesome variability in the finished soap. As a result of the work, the Rubber Reserve Company specified that all its soap in 1946 be hydrogenated to a precise degree. The requirements can be met by the use of nonedible tallows and greases, instead of edible tallows as formerly used. The research contributed substantially to the synthetic rubber program.

Because of the shortage of hog bristles for paint brushes, a process involving the extrusion of a heated plastic mixture of casein and water into air was developed. One manufacturer put in operation a pilot plant, with the cooperation of the Eastern Laboratory, to test the bristle. There appears to be an excellent market for the material, and it is expected that casein bristles can be produced more cheaply than natural bristles or other artificial products.

A new starch compound was prepared at the Eastern Laboratory. It is allyl starch. It dissolves in many organic solvents to yield a lacquer, or spirit varnish, which polymerizes after drying and becomes very hard and resistant to agents that often damage varnish surfaces. When properly formulated, varnishes containing allyl starch dry and harden to a mar-resistant coating much more rapidly than some oil- and resin-containing furniture varnishes. The resistance of the hardened finish to hot and cold water and to alcohol and other organic solvents is notably superior to that of several commercial furniture finishes.

During the war in the South Pacific it was found that leather goods and equipment used in the tropical atmosphere were in many cases seriously damaged by mold growth. In cooperation with the Office of the Chief of Ordnance, the Eastern Laboratory developed several compounds and treating procedures to meet this difficulty. Of these compounds, three were found to be especially effective when applied to completely fabricated leather equipment, and gave greatly increased resistance to both moisture and mold growth in laboratory tests and service tests in the Pacific and Panama areas. These compounds are composed of salicyl anilide paranitrophenol, and dinitro-ortho-cresol.

As chestnut wood becomes more and more limited because of ravages of blight, this country will become increasingly dependent on foreign and synthetic tannins unless additional domestic sources are developed. The Eastern Laboratory has given careful consideration to the production of domestic tannin from a number of potential tannin sources. Among these are Western hemlock bark; canaigre, a field plant grown in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona; scrub oak bark from Florida; and domestic sumacs. The problem in all of these materials is more economic than chemical. A good quality of tannin can be obtained from each of them. The problem to be solved is whether the material can be produced at a price competitive with the imported or synthetic article.