Polymers have for lengthy been a fundamental portion of our everyday lives so much in fact that examples can be found almost ubiquitously. We are apt to have an effect that leads us to think that polymers are only plastics used for packaging, in household objects as well as for making fibres, however is the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are employed in many applications you may not have thought much about. This blog enlightens you about the story behind polymers and just how it has evolved since that time to offer several functions across numerous industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have benefit of the versatility of polymers since way back when available as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it wasn’t before the industrial revolution how the polymer industry began to develop. In fact, the birth of polymer science could be traced to the mid-nineteenth century. In the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization procedure that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber in a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland developed a resin from two quite normal chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The response between these chemicals led the way for the development of a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It had been this resin that served as being a harbinger to many people of the common polymers that people use today. The word “polymer” comes from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which put together means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are made of numerous chemical units called monomers, that happen to be gathered into large molecular chains composed of a large number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On such basis as their origin, sumitomo chemical asia may be classified as natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are those polymers that exist in nature knowning that that happen to be isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a few samples of natural polymers. Though they are processed to find the end product, since the basic material comes from a natural source, these polymers are known as natural polymers. Natural rubber coming from tree latex is essentially a polymer produced from isoprene units using a portion of impurities within it.
Within this context, biopolymers may also be significant. There is certainly large number of biopolymers for example polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. These are naturally created by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes method for enormous prospect of the biotechnological production of biopolymers with tailored properties well suited for high-value medical application for example tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, for their name indicates, are synthesized within the laboratory or factory by having a number of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. From your functional perspective they could be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and artificial fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a such thermoplastic created by the polymerization of the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is frequently referred to as acrylic plastic and lends its properties to a selection of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic can be used extensively within the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer products which have a very constituent portion of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and others.
Many of the other synthetic polymers that people utilization in us include Nylons, used in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, used in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, used in pipes.
As being a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is glad to help you out to understand its properties as being a synthetic polymer. To learn more, contact us here.
For details about sumitomo chemical asia check out this useful net page: check here
Be First to Comment