Polymers have for lengthy been an integral part of our everyday lives so much so that examples is found almost ubiquitously. We generally have an impact leading us to trust that polymers are merely plastics used for packaging, in household objects and for making fibres, however this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are employed in all sorts of applications you might not have thought much about. This website enlightens you regarding the story behind polymers and just how it has evolved since to offer several functions across numerous industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans took good thing about the flexibility of polymers for years and years in the form of oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it was not until the industrial revolution how the polymer industry developed. In fact, the birth of polymer science may be traced to the mid-nineteenth century. Inside the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization procedure that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber in to a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland developed a resin from two quite normal chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The reaction between these two chemicals led the way to add mass to a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It was this resin that served as a harbinger to many 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 happen to be gathered into large molecular chains composed of a huge number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
Judging by their origin, polymer resin can be considered synthetic or natural polymers. Natural polymers are the types polymers that happen in nature knowning that that happen to be isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a few examples of natural polymers. Though they’re processed to have the result, since the basic material develops from a natural source, these polymers are referred to as natural polymers. Natural rubber received from tree latex is essentially a polymer made from isoprene units with a small percentage of impurities inside it.
Within this context, biopolymers may also be significant. There’s large number of biopolymers for example polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. They may be naturally created by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes way for enormous possibility of the biotechnological creation of biopolymers with tailored properties suited to high-value medical application for example tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as his or her name indicates, are synthesized from the laboratory or factory through a compilation of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. Through the functional point of view they could be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is one such thermoplastic created by the polymerization of the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is commonly generally known as acrylic plastic and lends its properties to some various consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is employed extensively from the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer goods that have a very constituent element of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and the like.
A number of the other synthetic polymers we use in us include Nylons, employed in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, employed in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, employed in pipes.
Like a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is pleased to help you understand its properties as a synthetic polymer. To know more, contact us here.
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