Search engine for touristic excursions to any place in the world Polymers have for too long been an integral part of our everyday lives so much so that examples are available almost ubiquitously. We have an impact leading us to think that polymers are simply plastics employed for packaging, in household objects as well as for making fibres, but this is simply the tip in the iceberg.
Polymers are widely-used in all sorts of applications you might not have thought much about. This blog enlightens you regarding the story behind polymers and just how it has evolved since to offer several functions across numerous industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have taken benefit from the flexibility of polymers since way back when as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it was not before industrial revolution that the polymer industry started to realize. In reality, the birth of polymer science might be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century. From the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization process that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber in a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland developed a resin from two very common chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The reaction between both of these chemicals paved the way for the development of a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It was this resin that served as a harbinger to many in the common polymers that individuals use today. The word “polymer” hails from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which come up with means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are composed of numerous chemical units called monomers, that are gathered into large molecular chains consisting of a huge number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On the basis of their origin, acrylic sheet may be viewed as natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the types polymers that occur in nature knowning that that are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are several examples of natural polymers. Though these are processed to obtain the end product, because the basic material develops from a natural source, these polymers are termed as natural polymers. Natural rubber via tree latex it’s essentially a polymer made out of isoprene units having a small percentage of impurities within it.
On this context, biopolymers are also significant. There’s huge variety of biopolymers such as polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. These are naturally made by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes way for enormous prospect of the biotechnological creation of biopolymers with tailored properties well suited for high-value medical application such as tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, for their name indicates, are synthesized within the laboratory or factory via a group of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. Through the functional point of view they may be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is one such thermoplastic made by the polymerization in the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is usually 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 products that possess a constituent component of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and the like.
Many of the other synthetic polymers that individuals use within our everyday life 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 satisfied to work with you in understanding its properties as a synthetic polymer. To know more, contact us here.
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