Polymers have for long been an integral part of our everyday lives so much in fact that examples are available almost ubiquitously. We have an impression which leads us to believe that polymers are merely plastics employed for packaging, in household objects and then for making fibres, but this is the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are widely-used in many applications you may not have thought much about. This website enlightens you in regards to the story behind polymers and just how they have evolved since to serve several functions across numerous industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have taken benefit from the flexibility of polymers since way back when in the form of oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it was not prior to the industrial revolution that this polymer industry developed. In fact, the birth of polymer science might be traced to the mid-nineteenth century. Inside the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization method that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber into a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland created resin from two common chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The response between these chemicals led the way to build up a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It had been this resin that served being a harbinger to numerous of the common polymers we use today. The saying “polymer” comes from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which build means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are made of several chemical units called monomers, that are gathered into large molecular chains consisting of a huge number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On the basis of their origin, pmma plastic could be classified as natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the type polymers that exist in nature which that are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a few types of natural polymers. Though they’re processed to obtain the product, considering that the basic material develops from a natural source, these polymers are termed as natural polymers. Natural rubber coming from tree latex is actually a polymer produced from isoprene units which has a tiny proportion of impurities in it.
With this context, biopolymers can also be significant. There’s vast number of biopolymers such as polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. These are naturally manufactured by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes opportinity for enormous risk of the biotechnological manufacture of biopolymers with tailored properties suited to high-value medical application such as tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, his or her name indicates, are synthesized from the laboratory or factory by having a series of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. From your functional viewpoint they can be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is certainly one such thermoplastic manufactured by the polymerization of the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is usually known as acrylic plastic and lends its properties with a number of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is utilized extensively from the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer items that have a constituent part of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, amongst others.
Some of the other synthetic polymers we used in our everyday life include Nylons, utilized in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, utilized in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, utilized in pipes.
As being a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is satisfied to help you understand its properties being a synthetic polymer. To find out more, contact us here.
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