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Nylon was discovered by a man by the name of Wallace Carothers in 1935. Wallace was just 32 when he was appointed the director of DuPont Corporation`s Research Centre, due to his large amount of studying and teaching of organic chemistry, and his specialisation in polymers. At the time polymers and polymerisation were little understood, but after many years of working at DuPont, Wallace created a broader understanding of the structure of polymers and how these long chain molecules are formed. DuPont's goal was to discover cheap, synthetic materials that could be manufactured at an industrial level and that would be useful for many years to come. The first discovery since Wallace became the director was neoprene, a synthetic rubber that is used in wetsuits which was created by DuPont labs. Next, Wallace and his team had their sights set on discovering a synthetic fibre and in 1934 they had a very promising development. He combined different chemicals such as amine, hexamethylene diamine, and adipic acid. When they were combined the did create fibres but they were not as strong as they had hoped for. When the different chemicals combined the process used was called condensation polymerisation, which meant there would be a byproduct of water. Later Wallace realised that the byproduct of water was dropping back into the mixture and was stopping more polymers forming. When they adjusted the equipment so the water was distilled and removed from the system, they created a synthetic fibre that is strong, flexible, durable and cheap. Wallace died in 1937 and nylon was finally available for purchase in 1939.