Polymers have for lengthy been a fundamental piece of our everyday lives so much so that examples is available almost ubiquitously. We are apt to have an impact leading us to imagine that polymers are simply just plastics useful for packaging, in household objects and for making fibres, but this is the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are widely-used in many applications you may not have thought much about. This blog enlightens you about the story behind polymers and just how they have evolved since to provide several functions across a number of industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have taken good thing about the versatility of polymers for hundreds of years in the form of oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it wasn’t before industrial revolution that the polymer industry developed. Actually, the birth of polymer science may be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century. Inside 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 designed a resin from two quite typical chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The reaction between those two chemicals paved the way to add mass to a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It was this resin that served like a harbinger to numerous of the common polymers that we use today. The term “polymer” comes from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which assembled means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are comprised of several chemical units called monomers, that happen to be joined together into large molecular chains comprising 1000s of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On such basis as their origin, methyl methacrylate resin may be viewed as natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the ones polymers that occur in nature understanding 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 may be processed to obtain the product, since the basic material develops from a natural source, these polymers are known as natural polymers. Natural rubber via tree latex is actually a polymer produced from isoprene units which has a tiny proportion of impurities in it.
On this context, biopolymers are also significant. There is certainly large number of biopolymers such as polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. They may be naturally created by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes means for enormous prospect of the biotechnological output of biopolymers with tailored properties suitable 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 by way of a compilation of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. Through the functional perspective they are often classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is but one such thermoplastic created by the polymerization of the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is frequently generally known as acrylic plastic and lends its properties with a various consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is employed extensively within the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer goods that have a very constituent portion of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, among others.
A number of the other synthetic polymers that we use within us include Nylons, found in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, found in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, found in pipes.
Like a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is satisfied to help you understand its properties like a synthetic polymer. To understand more, get in touch with us here.
For additional information about methyl methacrylate resin go our web site: click for more info