Polymers have for lengthy been a fundamental piece of our everyday lives because of this that examples is available almost ubiquitously. We are apt to have an impression leading us to imagine that polymers are merely plastics utilized for packaging, in household objects and for making fibres, however this is just the tip with the iceberg.
Polymers are employed in all sorts of applications you will possibly not have thought much about. This blog enlightens you in regards to the story behind polymers and how they have evolved since to offer several functions across a host of industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have got benefit from the flexibility of polymers for years and years in the form of oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it had not been before the industrial revolution how the polymer industry started to realize. In reality, the birth of polymer science could possibly be traced time for the mid-nineteenth century. From the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization process that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber right into a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland developed a resin from two very common chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The response between those two chemicals paved the way to build up a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It had been this resin that served being a harbinger to numerous with the common polymers that individuals use today. The word “polymer” comes from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which come up with means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are made of many chemical units called monomers, which are joined together into large molecular chains made up of 1000s of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On the basis of their origin, acrylic sheet can be considered natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the types polymers that appear in nature which which are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a couple of examples of natural polymers. Though they may be processed to obtain the end product, since basic material develops from a natural source, these polymers are called as natural polymers. Natural rubber originating from tree latex it’s essentially a polymer created from isoprene units having a small percentage of impurities in it.
With this context, biopolymers are also significant. There exists huge variety of biopolymers like 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 suitable for high-value medical application like tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as their name indicates, are synthesized in the laboratory or factory through a compilation of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. In the functional perspective they may be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is certainly one such thermoplastic created by the polymerization with the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is usually called acrylic plastic and lends its properties into a various consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic can be used extensively in the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer items that possess a constituent element of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and others.
A few of the other synthetic polymers that individuals use in our everyday life include Nylons, employed in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, employed in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, employed in pipes.
As being a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is glad to assist you to understand its properties being a synthetic polymer. To find out more, find us here.
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