DuPont’s involvement with films and photographic supplies began in the 1910s when company officials suggested making film base as an outlet for excess nitrocellulose. During the next decade, DuPont spent over $500,000 trying to develop a film base and emulsion coatings. Rather than go it alone, DuPont formed a joint venture in 1924 with the Pathé Cinema Société Anonyme of Paris called the DuPont-Pathé Film Manufacturing Corporation. The company produced 35-mm positive movie film and sold about $4 million worth of film per year by the late 1920s.
In addition to photographic products, DuPont also investigated the use of cellulose film as packaging material. After acquiring the U.S. patent rights to cellophane in 1923, DuPont chemists developed a moisture-proofing system that revolutionized the food packaging industry. By 1938 cellophane accounted for 25 percent of DuPont’s annual profit.
In the early 1950s, the newly organized Film Department focused its research on non-cellulosic films and soon developed a polyester film called Mylar® . Displaying superior strength, heat resistance and insulating properties, Mylar® opened new markets in magnetic audio and video tape, packaging, and batteries.
During the 1940s and 1950s, DuPont’s Photo Products Department bought out the minority interest in DuPont-Pathé Film and acquired two companies to develop X-ray and photographic paper businesses. Photo Products also investigated the use of solid photopolymer compositions to make printed circuits for incorporation in all kinds of electrical devices. DuPont Riston® photoresists cut circuit panel preparation time from minutes to seconds and was a hit with companies involved in the production of sophisticated printed circuits like IBM. Since the 1960s, DuPont has consistently developed new technologies in photoimaging, printing and packaging materials. Dycril® photopolymer printing plates set new standards for printing quality, Fodel® photoimageable compositions are used in flat panel displays, and the joint venture DuPont Teijin Films™ is the world’s leading supplier of PET and PEN polyester films.
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