Polymers have for lengthy been a fundamental portion of our everyday lives a case in point that examples is found almost ubiquitously. We have an effect that leads us to trust that polymers are simply plastics useful for packaging, in household objects and then for making fibres, but this is only the tip from the iceberg.
Polymers are utilized in all sorts of applications you may not have thought much about. This website enlightens you concerning the story behind polymers and just how they have evolved since to serve several functions across a number of industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have got benefit from the flexibility of polymers for years and years by means of oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it wasn’t until the industrial revolution how the polymer industry started to realize. The truth is, the birth of polymer science may be traced time for the mid-nineteenth century. From 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 a resin from two quite normal chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The response between these two chemicals led the way for the development of a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It turned out this resin that served like a harbinger to many from the common polymers we use today. The phrase “polymer” hails from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which come up with means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are made of countless chemical units called monomers, which are gathered into large molecular chains made up of a large number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
Judging by their origin, thermoplastic resin can be regarded as synthetic or natural polymers. Natural polymers are the ones polymers that exist in nature understanding that which are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are several instances of natural polymers. Though they’re processed to find the product, because 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 made from isoprene units which has a tiny proportion of impurities within it.
On this context, biopolymers may also be significant. There is certainly large number of biopolymers including polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. These are naturally manufactured by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes opportinity for enormous possibility of the biotechnological production of biopolymers with tailored properties suited to high-value medical application including tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as their name indicates, are synthesized in the laboratory or factory by having a group of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. Through the functional point of view they may be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and artificial fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is one such thermoplastic manufactured by the polymerization from the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is frequently referred to as acrylic plastic and lends its properties to some various consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is used extensively in the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer products that use a constituent element of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and the like.
A few of the other synthetic polymers we used in our everyday life include Nylons, used in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, used in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, used in pipes.
Like a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is glad to help you in understanding its properties like a synthetic polymer. To know more, contact us here.
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