Polymers have for lengthy been a fundamental portion of our everyday lives so much so that examples are available almost ubiquitously. We have the feeling leading us to think that polymers are only plastics employed for packaging, in household objects as well as for making fibres, but this is simply the tip of the iceberg.
Polymers are employed in many applications you might not have thought much about. This website enlightens you in regards to the story behind polymers and exactly how it’s got evolved since that time for everyone several functions across numerous industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have got good thing about the flexibility of polymers since way back when by means of oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it had not been prior to the industrial revolution how the polymer industry started to realize. In fact, the birth of polymer science might be traced time for the mid-nineteenth century. From 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 designed a resin from two very common chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The response between those two chemicals led the way to add mass to a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It had been this resin that served being a harbinger to numerous of the common polymers that we use today. The term “polymer” is derived from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which come up with means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are composed of several chemical units called monomers, which are gathered into large molecular chains made up of a huge number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On such basis as their origin, polymethyl methacrylate could be viewed as synthetic or natural polymers. Natural polymers are the ones polymers that appear in nature knowning that which are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are a couple of instances of natural polymers. Though these are processed to have the end result, considering that the basic material develops from a natural source, these polymers are known as natural polymers. Natural rubber received from tree latex is basically a polymer created from isoprene units which has a small percentage of impurities inside.
Within this context, biopolymers may also be significant. There is large number of biopolymers for example polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. They may be naturally manufactured by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes way for enormous possibility of 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 from the laboratory or factory through a compilation of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. From the functional standpoint they may 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 frequently called acrylic plastic and lends its properties to some number of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is employed extensively from the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer products which have a constituent element of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, among others.
A few of the other synthetic polymers that we use within us include Nylons, found in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, found in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, found in pipes.
As a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is happy to help you out to understand its properties being a synthetic polymer. To find out more, reach out to us here.
For more details about polymethyl methacrylate just go to this useful webpage: web link