Who invented the foil? Interesting Facts

We come across foil almost every day, most often without even noticing it. It is everyday and technical. The first is used for packaging products, making blisters for tablets, baking meat and vegetables. It is non-toxic, odorless and perfectly preserves heat. The second is used in electronics and industry. Such a foil is ductile, heat-resistant and has a high reflectivity.

Who invented the foil? To whom and when did it occur to turn a piece of metal into a thin sheet like paper?

Truth and fiction

Sometimes you can find a reference to the fact that Percy Spencer invented foil. In fact, this is not so. According to legend, Percy Spencer invented a microwave oven when he noticed that the included magnetron melted the chocolate in his pocket. But the chocolate was just wrapped in foil, which, perhaps, contributed to the heating process.

But who invented foil in reality? In fact, opinions radically differ. The first foil was gold, it is also called gold leaf. She appeared a very long time, still with the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. This is due to the fact that gold - the most ductile and malleable metal, that is, flatten it into a thin sheet is not difficult. They used it to decorate jewelry and gilding.

In Japan, the masters forged and stretched a piece of gold until it turned into a foil leaf. When the leaves become very thin, not thicker than 0.001 mm, the foil is again beaten between the layers of paper. This art exists only in Japan for many centuries.

Gold foil can even be eaten. In the food industry it is an additive Е175, used to decorate various dishes, for example, ice cream.

Now gold foil is valued not only for its artistic value, but also for high electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion. And these are important qualities for electrical engineering.

Who invented the foil? Actually, the aluminum product has a long and controversial history. His ancestor was tin foil, a staniol that was widely used up to the twentieth century in the manufacture of mirrors, with food packaging and in dentistry. But the staniol was toxic and had an unpleasant tin odor, so the food industry did not get accustomed.

Brilliant invention

Who invented the foil? Interesting facts tell about this "brilliant" invention. In 1909, a young engineer from Zurich, Robert Victor Neer, watched the international balloon race and accidentally overheard the argument of the fans about which of the aircraft would last longer in the air. It occurred to Neuer that the best result would be to cover the balloon of silk with a thin layer of aluminum foil.

Unfortunately, the balloon, designed by Neer's project, could not fly. But the machine for the production of the finest strips of aluminum, that is, foil, has already been built. After several trials and mistakes, not without the help of colleagues (Edwin Laubert and Alfred Grum), Neuer still managed to succeed. A patent for the production of aluminum foil was received on October 27, 1910.

Neer and chocolate factories

The first to appreciate the benefits of the new packaging material confectioners. Before that, chocolate was sold in pieces by weight. Further opinions diverge. Some historians say that the first contract with Neer for the supply of foil was concluded by the chocolate factory Tobler. Others argue that the use of aluminum foil to protect consumers from melted chocolate came up at the Nestle factories. Still others attribute the idea of chocolate wrappers from this material to Franklin Mars, the owner of the Mars factory. Aluminum wrapping has become a successful innovation of a savvy entrepreneur. In the US for the first time wrapped in foil candy Life Savers in 1913.

So who invented the foil? Some people say that Thomas Edison did this so that his favorite sweets do not deteriorate so quickly.

Later, foil was used to pack medicines, cigarettes, oil, coffee and even juice. At the same time, the first rolls of household foils appeared to pack anything.

Color matters

So after all, who invented foil? Until now, this is a contentious issue. It is only known that in 1915 Neer came up with a way to make a multicolored foil. But in 1918 he was drafted into the army, where he died of Spanish flu on November 27 of the same year. But his idea did not disappear, and in 1933 Conrad Kurtz became the pioneer of the method of cathode deposition. This method made it possible to apply a thin, even layer of gold to the aluminum substrate. Such a foil was used for hot embossing. World wars and total economic decline forced manufacturers to change the layer of real gold to a layer of yellow varnish with a metallized base. So there was a modern multi-colored foil. Color diversity and cheaper production expanded the scope of the material.

Other story

The question was not solved: who invented the foil? There is another version of its appearance, and it is connected not with balloons, but with the tobacco industry. It often happens that the discoveries come to the heads of several people almost simultaneously. Prior to the beginning of the 20th century, cigars and cigarettes were packed to protect them from moisture in thin sheets of tin. Richard Reynolds, who at that time worked at his uncle's tobacco factory, thought of using aluminum instead of tin, a cheaper and lighter material. The first sample of aluminum foil he produced in 1947.

Foil and lotus

April 16, 2015, German scientists announced the invention of a material to which no liquid adheres, in this case - yogurt. The new material is an aluminum foil, covered with microscopic cavities, in which air collects and does not allow the liquid to get inside. This idea scientists peeped at the lotus leaf, which repels water and dirt.

Japanese companies are ready to apply the invention in practice, having developed special lids for yogurt.