Polymers have for very long been a fundamental portion of our everyday lives so much in fact that examples are available almost ubiquitously. We generally have an impact that leads us to think that polymers are only plastics used for packaging, in household objects as well as for making fibres, but this is the tip in the iceberg.


Polymers are used in many applications you may not have thought much about. This web site enlightens you about the story behind polymers and just how they have evolved since for everyone several functions across numerous industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have got benefit from the flexibility of polymers for hundreds of years available as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it wasn’t until the industrial revolution that the polymer industry started to realize. In fact, the birth of polymer science may be traced returning to the mid-nineteenth century. In the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization procedure that transformed the sticky latex of natural rubber right into a useful elastomer for tire use. In 1909, Leo Hendrik Baekeland developed 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 was this resin that served like a harbinger to many in the common polymers that individuals use today. The word “polymer” comes from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which build means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are comprised of several chemical units called monomers, that are joined together into large molecular chains consisting of 1000s of atoms.
Classification of polymers
On such basis as their origin, acrylic glass can be classified as natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the ones polymers that happen in nature and that that are isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are some samples of natural polymers. Though they may be processed to find the end product, since 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 produced from isoprene units which has a portion of impurities inside it.
On this context, biopolymers can also be significant. There is certainly large number of biopolymers for example polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. These are naturally produced by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes opportinity for enormous prospect of the biotechnological manufacture of biopolymers with tailored properties ideal for high-value medical application for example tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as their name indicates, are synthesized inside the laboratory or factory by having a group of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. Through the functional viewpoint they could be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and artificial fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is one such thermoplastic produced by the polymerization in the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is frequently referred to as acrylic plastic and lends its properties to a selection of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is utilized extensively inside the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer goods that use a constituent element of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and others.
Some of the other synthetic polymers that individuals utilization in us include Nylons, used in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, used in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, used in pipes.
As a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is glad to help you to understand its properties like a synthetic polymer. To learn more, find us here.
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