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Polyoxymethylene (POM), also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde, is an engineering thermoplastic used in precision parts that require high stiffness, low friction and excellent dimensional stability.
It was discovered by Hermann Staudinger, a German chemist who received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He studied the polymerization and structure of POM in the 1920s to research the theory of macromolecules, which he characterized as polymers. Due to initial problems with thermal stability, POM was not commercialized.
First synthesized by DuPont research chemists around 1952, the company filed for patent protection of the homopolymer in 1956 and completed construction of a plant to produce Delrin at Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1960. Celanese completed its study on a copolymer in 1960, producing Celcon in 1962 and Hostaform in 1963 in Kelsterbach, Germany, under a limited partnership with Ticona.

From: en.wikipedia.or...