Ultra strong fiber revolutionized hand protection, other products
Stephanie Kwolek, the DuPont chemist best known for inventing Kevlar, died June 18 at the age of 90.
Kevlar is considered a “happy accident” within the scientific community. Kwolek and her colleagues at DuPont were attempting to develop a strong synthetic fiber that could be used in tires when she noticed a mixture of a polymer and a solvent that appeared cloudy – quite different from the usual translucent appearance of conventional polymer solutions. Normally the solution would have been discarded as a mistake. However, the scientific curiosity that would lead to her winning multiple awards and honors over the course of her career caused Kwolek to investigate the substance further.