Polymers have for too long been a fundamental portion of our everyday lives so much in fact that examples is available almost ubiquitously. We generally have an impact leading us to trust that polymers are only plastics employed for packaging, in household objects and then for making fibres, however this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are utilized in many applications you will possibly not have thought much about. This site enlightens you about the story behind polymers and the way it has evolved since that time to provide several functions across a host of industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have good thing about the flexibility of polymers for centuries available as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it wasn’t until the industrial revolution that the polymer industry developed. In reality, the birth of polymer science could possibly be traced back to 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 created resin from two quite normal chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The reaction between these chemicals paved the way to add mass to a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It absolutely was this resin that served like a harbinger to many of the common polymers we use today. The phrase “polymer” is derived from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which put together means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are made of numerous chemical units called monomers, which can be gathered into large molecular chains comprising 1000s of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On the basis of their origin, polymethyl methacrylate could be classified as synthetic or natural polymers. Natural polymers are the type polymers that occur in nature knowning that which can be isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are several instances of natural polymers. Though they’re processed to obtain the result, since basic material comes from a natural source, these polymers are known as natural polymers. Natural rubber via tree latex is essentially a polymer produced from isoprene units which has a small percentage of impurities inside it.
On this context, biopolymers are also significant. There is vast number of biopolymers like polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. They’re naturally manufactured 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 like tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as his or her name indicates, are synthesized within the laboratory or factory via a group of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. In the functional point of view they could be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is but one such thermoplastic manufactured by the polymerization of the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is commonly referred to as acrylic plastic and lends its properties with 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 that use a constituent portion of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and the like.
Many of the other synthetic polymers we use within us include Nylons, employed in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, employed in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, employed in pipes.
Like a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is glad to assist you understand its properties like a synthetic polymer. To know more, contact us here.
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