Röhm was a German chemist and a successful businessman. He was a co-founder of the German chemical conglomerate IG Farben and played an important role in the development of Röhm GmbH.
Röhm is best known for his work on the development of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), a transparent thermoplastic also known as "Plexiglas" or "acrylic glass". In 1928, he and his team discovered a way to polymerize methyl methacrylate into a transparent solid. This new material had many of the desirable properties of glass, such as transparency and rigidity, but was also lightweight and shatterproof. Plexiglas quickly became a popular material in a variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive and architecture.
Today, PLEXIGLAS® is one of the best-known plastics in the world, and PMMA is used in a wide range of applications, from signs and displays to medical devices, particularly due to its high optical quality and the ability to process and shape it very precisely. In addition to the production of artificial lenses, it is also used in other medical devices and instruments, for example in blood glucose meters, laboratory equipment or dialysis machines.
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