Polypropylene (PP) was discovered and developed by two Italian chemists, Giulio Natta and Karl Ziegler, in the mid-1950s. Both chemists independently developed catalysts that enabled the polymerization of propylene into a crystalline polymer structure, which they termed polypropylene.

• Karl Ziegler, a German chemist, developed a catalyst system known as the Ziegler-Natta catalyst. This catalyst revolutionized polymerization processes by enabling the production of polypropylene and other polymers with specific stereochemical structures and properties.

• Giulio Natta, an Italian chemist, used Ziegler’s catalyst to further develop and refine the polymerization process. Natta’s work with Ziegler’s catalyst led to the discovery of isotactic polypropylene, a highly crystalline form of the polymer that exhibits excellent mechanical and thermal properties.

For their groundbreaking work on polypropylene, Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963. Their discoveries paved the way for the commercialisation of polypropylene, which has become one of the most widely used thermoplastics globally, finding applications in packaging, textiles, automotive components, and various other industries.

Above are examples such as icing nozzles for decorating a cake, cable clips for electrical applications and components for barriers including an overmoulded cap with TPE.

Why choose PP for your injection moulding project?