Polymers have for too long been a fundamental piece of our everyday lives a case in point that examples are available almost ubiquitously. We have an impact leading us to trust that polymers are simply plastics useful for packaging, in household objects and for making fibres, however, this is just the tip with the iceberg.
Polymers are widely-used in all sorts of applications you do not have thought much about. This blog enlightens you concerning the story behind polymers and the way it’s got evolved since that time for everyone several functions across a host of industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have advantage of the flexibility of polymers for hundreds of years as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it had not been until the industrial revolution that the polymer industry developed. The truth is, the birth of polymer science might be traced to the mid-nineteenth century. From the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization method that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber right into a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland created resin from two quite typical chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The response between both of these chemicals led the way for the development of a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It had been this resin that served as a harbinger to many people with the common polymers that individuals use today. The phrase “polymer” comes from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which put together means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are composed of several chemical units called monomers, that happen to be gathered into large molecular chains composed of thousands of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On such basis as their origin, polymethyl methacrylate could be viewed as synthetic or natural 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 some instances of natural polymers. Though they’re processed to obtain the end product, considering that the basic material comes from a natural source, these polymers are termed as natural polymers. Natural rubber received from tree latex is actually a polymer made out of isoprene units with a portion of impurities in it.
In this context, biopolymers may also be significant. There exists huge variety of biopolymers such as polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. They are naturally manufactured by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes opportinity for enormous prospect of the biotechnological production of biopolymers with tailored properties well suited for high-value medical application such as tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as their name indicates, are synthesized within the laboratory or factory via a series of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. From the functional viewpoint they could be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and artificial fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is but one such thermoplastic manufactured by the polymerization with the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is often generally known as acrylic plastic and lends its properties to a variety 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 items that use a constituent component of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, among others.
Many of the other synthetic polymers that individuals used in our everyday life 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 satisfied to work with you to understand its properties as a synthetic polymer. To understand more, find us here.
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