Polymers have for long been a fundamental element of our everyday lives so much in fact that examples can be found almost ubiquitously. We have the feeling leading us to believe that polymers are simply just plastics useful for packaging, in household objects and then for making fibres, however, this is simply the tip in the iceberg.


Polymers are used in many applications you may not have thought much about. This web site enlightens you concerning the story behind polymers and exactly how it has evolved since to offer several functions across a host of industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have advantage of the flexibility of polymers for years and years by means of oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it had not been prior to the industrial revolution the polymer industry began to develop. Actually, the birth of polymer science may be traced returning to the mid-nineteenth century. Within the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization procedure that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber into a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland developed a resin from two common chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The reaction between these two chemicals led the way for the development of a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It turned out this resin that served as being a harbinger to numerous in the common polymers that we use today. The phrase “polymer” hails from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which assembled means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are comprised of countless chemical units called monomers, which are gathered into large molecular chains comprising thousands of atoms.
Classification of polymers
Based on their origin, acrylic sheet could be classified as synthetic or natural polymers. Natural polymers are the types polymers that exist in nature understanding that which are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are some types of natural polymers. Though they’re processed to get the product, since the basic material comes from a natural source, these polymers are known as natural polymers. Natural rubber coming from tree latex is basically a polymer made from isoprene units which has a small percentage of impurities inside it.
With this context, biopolymers will also be significant. There exists 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 possibility of the biotechnological production of biopolymers with tailored properties ideal for high-value medical application such as tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as their name indicates, are synthesized from the laboratory or factory via a series of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. Through the functional perspective they are often classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and artificial fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a such thermoplastic made by the polymerization in the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is often 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 from the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer goods that have a constituent component 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 our everyday life include Nylons, utilized in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, utilized in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, utilized in pipes.
As a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is glad to help you out in understanding its properties as being a synthetic polymer. To find out more, contact us here.
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