Polymers have for long been a fundamental element of our everyday lives so much so that examples can be found almost ubiquitously. We are apt to have an impression leading us to trust that polymers are simply just plastics utilized for packaging, in household objects as well as making fibres, however this is simply the tip in the iceberg.

Polymers are used in all sorts of applications you may not have thought much about. This site enlightens you regarding the story behind polymers and exactly how it has evolved ever since for everyone several functions across quite a few industries.
Origin of polymer science
Humans have taken benefit of the versatility of polymers since way back when as oils, tars, resins and gums. However, it had not been until the industrial revolution the polymer industry started to realize. In fact, the birth of polymer science could possibly be traced to the mid-nineteenth century. Within the 1830s, Charles Goodyear developed the vulcanization procedure 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 quite normal chemicals, phenol and formaldehyde. The response between these two chemicals led the way to add mass to a resin, called Bakelite, named after him. It was this resin that served being a harbinger to many in the common polymers that we use today. The saying “polymer” hails from the Greek roots “poly” and “mer,” which come up with means “many parts.” Polymeric substances are comprised of numerous chemical units called monomers, that happen to be joined together into large molecular chains comprising a large number of atoms.
Classification of polymers
Based on their origin, sumitomo chemical asia may be regarded as natural or synthetic polymers. Natural polymers are the types polymers that happen in nature knowning that that happen to be isolated from plant and animal resources. Starch, cellulose, proteins, natural rubber etc. are some instances of natural polymers. Though these are processed to find the end product, since the basic material comes from a natural source, these polymers are termed as natural polymers. Natural rubber originating from tree latex it’s essentially a polymer made out of isoprene units having a tiny proportion of impurities inside.
With this context, biopolymers can also be significant. There exists huge variety of biopolymers like polysaccharides, polyesters, and polyamides. They are naturally made by microorganisms. The genetic manipulation of microorganisms makes way for enormous prospect of the biotechnological output of biopolymers with tailored properties suitable for high-value medical application like tissue engineering and drug delivery.
Synthetic polymers, as their name indicates, are synthesized in the laboratory or factory by way of a number of chemical reactions from low molecular weight compounds. Through the functional standpoint they could be classified into four main categories: thermoplastics, thermosets, elastomers and synthetic fibres. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is a such thermoplastic made by the polymerization in the monomer, methyl methacrylate (MMA). PMMA is frequently referred to as acrylic plastic and lends its properties to some number of consumer product applications. Being both a thermoplastic and transparent plastic, acrylic is utilized extensively in the automotive industry in trunk release handles, master cylinder, and dashboard lighting. Consumer products that have a constituent component of acrylic plastic include aquariums, motorcycle helmet lenses, paint, furniture, picture framing, and umbrella clamps, and others.
A few of the other synthetic polymers that we utilization in us include Nylons, utilized in fabrics and textiles, Teflon, utilized in non-stick pans and Polyvinyl Chloride, utilized in pipes.
As being a leading manufacturer of SUMIPEX® PMMA polymer, Sumitomo Chemical is satisfied to help you out in understanding its properties being a synthetic polymer. To know more, find us here.
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