Historical Perspectives and Reflections on the Degradation and Stabilization of Polymer Materials

ABSTRACT This article presents a historical perspective on the field of polymer degradation and stabilization. It summarizes the early research experiments on polymer materials' degradation and oxidation processes. Both natural and synthetic polymers are discussed, as well as how their interrelationships developed over the years to the modern day, leading to a more pragmatic approach to understanding the fundamental processes and their complexities. It illustrates how such knowledge led to the development of stabilization processes and eventually their wide‐ranging modes of operation. Within this context, the controversies and difficulties that were intertwined in understanding the various mechanistic processes are highlighted by an eventual appreciation of the knowledge that, for polymer materials, there is no single solution.