ABSTRACT

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The development of polyvinyl butyral (PVB) has been primarily driven by the car industry and its demand for safety glass. The discovery of the toughening of glass by lamination with a synthetic layer dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century and was the result of the clumsiness of Edouard Benedictus, a French scientist, in his laboratory. He accidentally knocked over a glass flask of cellulose nitrate reagent on the floor and observed that the star-crazed flask did not break. The laminated glass was discovered and given the name Triplex by Benedictus. The process of manufacture of laminated glass was set up 30 years later, but until 1935, the only interlayer to be used was the cellulose nitrate (named Pyralin). It was the only transparent, clear, and sufficiently strong material available to be bonded to glass with a natural resin (Canada balsam).