Polymers have for long been a fundamental piece of our everyday lives because of this that examples are available almost ubiquitously. We have an impact that leads us to think that polymers are simply just plastics useful for packaging, in household objects and for making fibres, however, this is only the tip from the iceberg.
Polymers are widely-used in many applications you do not have thought much about. This web site enlightens you regarding the story behind polymers and just how it’s got evolved since to serve several functions across quite a few industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have taken benefit of the versatility of polymers for years and years as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it wasn’t until the industrial revolution how the polymer industry started to realize. In reality, the birth of polymer science might be traced time for the mid-nineteenth century. Inside the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization method that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber in a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland created resin from two very common chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The response between these two chemicals paved the way to build up a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It turned out this resin that served like a harbinger to many people from the common polymers that we use today. The word “polymer” comes from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which assembled means “many parts.” Polymeric substances consist of several chemical units called monomers, that are joined together into large molecular chains comprising a large number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
Based on their origin, polymer resin may be classified as natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the types polymers that occur in nature understanding that that are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a couple of instances of natural polymers. Though they are processed to get the end product, considering that the basic material develops from a natural source, these polymers are termed as natural polymers. Natural rubber coming from tree latex is basically a polymer made out of isoprene units with a portion of impurities inside.
Within this context, biopolymers may also be significant. There’s large number of biopolymers including polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. They are naturally produced by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes way for enormous risk of the biotechnological production of biopolymers with tailored properties suitable for high-value medical application including tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, his or her name indicates, are synthesized from the laboratory or factory through a group of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. In the functional standpoint they may be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and artificial fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is one such thermoplastic produced by the polymerization from the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is usually known as acrylic plastic and lends its properties into a variety of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic can be used extensively from the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer products that use a constituent part of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, among others.
Some of the other synthetic polymers that 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.
As a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is pleased to assist you understand its properties like a synthetic polymer. To know more, reach out to us here.
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