Polymers have for lengthy been a fundamental element of our everyday lives so much in fact that examples is found almost ubiquitously. We generally have an impression which leads us to believe that polymers are simply plastics useful for packaging, in household objects as well as for making fibres, but this is simply the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are utilized in all sorts of applications you will possibly not have thought much about. This blog enlightens you about the story behind polymers and the way it’s got evolved since to serve several functions across quite a few industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have got benefit from the versatility of polymers for hundreds of years as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it wasn’t before industrial revolution how the polymer industry began to develop. Actually, the birth of polymer science could be traced time for the mid-nineteenth century. Inside the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization process that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber in a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland designed a 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 turned out this resin that served being a harbinger to numerous of the common polymers that people use today. The word “polymer” hails from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which put together means “many parts.” Polymeric substances consist of several chemical units called monomers, which are gathered into large molecular chains composed of 1000s of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On such basis as their origin, acrylic glass might be considered natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the type polymers that exist in nature understanding that which are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a couple of types of natural polymers. Though they may be processed to have the end result, because the basic material develops from a natural source, these polymers are called as natural polymers. Natural rubber coming from tree latex is essentially a polymer created from isoprene units which has a portion of impurities inside it.
Within this context, biopolymers can also be significant. There is certainly vast number of biopolymers including polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. These are naturally made by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes way for enormous risk of the biotechnological manufacture of biopolymers with tailored properties well suited for high-value medical application including tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as his or her name indicates, are synthesized inside the laboratory or factory through a compilation of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. From the functional point of view they are often classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and artificial fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a such thermoplastic made by the polymerization of the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is frequently referred to as acrylic plastic and lends its properties into a variety of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is utilized extensively inside the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer goods that have a constituent portion of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, among 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 understand its properties being a synthetic polymer. To learn more, reach out to us here.
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