Polymers have for too long been a fundamental element of our everyday lives so much in fact that examples can be found almost ubiquitously. We generally have an impact leading us to think that polymers are merely plastics employed for packaging, in household objects and then for making fibres, however, this is simply the tip with the iceberg.
Polymers are used in many applications you may not have thought much about. This website enlightens you regarding the story behind polymers and just how they have evolved from the time for everyone several functions across quite a few industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have got good thing about the flexibility of polymers for years and years by means of oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it was not before the industrial revolution how the polymer industry started to realize. In reality, the birth of polymer science could possibly be traced time for the mid-nineteenth century. Within 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 these two chemicals paved the way to add mass to a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It had been this resin that served like a harbinger to numerous with the common polymers that we use today. The saying “polymer” comes from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which put together means “many parts.” Polymeric substances consist of many chemical units called monomers, that happen to be gathered into large molecular chains made up of a large number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
Based on their origin, acrylic glass might be classified as natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are those polymers that occur in nature knowning that that happen to be isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a few types of natural polymers. Though they’re processed to obtain the product, because the basic material comes from a natural source, these polymers are called as natural polymers. Natural rubber received from tree latex is basically a polymer produced from isoprene units having a portion of impurities in it.
Within this context, biopolymers will also be significant. There is certainly vast number of biopolymers such as polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. These are naturally created by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes means for enormous potential for the biotechnological production of biopolymers with tailored properties suitable for high-value medical application such as tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, his or her name indicates, are synthesized within the laboratory or factory through a compilation of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. From the functional standpoint they are often classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a such thermoplastic created by the polymerization with the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is commonly referred to as acrylic plastic and lends its properties into a number of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is utilized extensively within the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer products which have a constituent component of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and the like.
A number of the other synthetic polymers that we use within us include Nylons, used in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, used in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, used in pipes.
Being a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is happy to help you to understand its properties like a synthetic polymer. To find out more, find us here.
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