Polymers have for very long been a fundamental portion of our everyday lives so much so that examples is found almost ubiquitously. We are apt to have an impression top us to imagine that polymers are simply just plastics used for packaging, in household objects and then for making fibres, however this is simply the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are widely-used in many applications you might not have thought much about. This blog enlightens you in regards to the story behind polymers and just how they have evolved since that time to serve several functions across quite a few industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans took good thing about the flexibility of polymers for years and years as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it was not until the industrial revolution that this polymer industry started to realize. Actually, the birth of polymer science might be traced time for the mid-nineteenth century. From the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization procedure that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber in a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland created a resin from two common chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The reaction between both of these chemicals led the way to build up a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It was this resin that served as a harbinger to many of the common polymers we use today. The term “polymer” hails from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which assembled means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are made of countless chemical units called monomers, which can be joined together into large molecular chains made up of a huge number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On the basis of their origin, sumitomo chemical asia could be regarded as synthetic or natural polymers. Natural polymers are the type polymers that exist in nature knowning that which can be isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a couple of types of natural polymers. Though they are processed to have the result, because the basic material comes from a natural source, these polymers are called as natural polymers. Natural rubber originating from tree latex is basically a polymer made from isoprene units which has a small percentage of impurities within it.
On this context, biopolymers may also be significant. There’s huge variety of biopolymers for example polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. These are naturally produced by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes means for enormous potential for the biotechnological creation of biopolymers with tailored properties well suited for high-value medical application for example tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as their name indicates, are synthesized inside the laboratory or factory through a series of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. From your functional viewpoint they may be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a such thermoplastic produced by the polymerization of the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is commonly called acrylic plastic and lends its properties into a number of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic can be used extensively inside the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer items that use 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 we utilization in us 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 pleased to work with you to understand its properties as a synthetic polymer. To find out more, reach out to us here.
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