Polymers

POLYMERS
WHAT IS a POLYMER?
 Traced back to its Greek
origins, the word polymer
literally means “many parts.”
 All polymers are made up of
very large molecules. These
large molecules are made up of
many smaller molecules, linked
end to end.
 typical polymer molecule might
contain hundreds or even
thousands of these smaller
constituent molecules, which
are called monomers.
WHAT IS a POLYMER?
 Polyethylene molecules are
composed entirely of just two
elements, carbon and
hydrogen.
 The carbon atoms are linked
together in a long chain that is
called the polymer backbone
of the polymer molecule, and
there are two hydrogen atoms
attached to each carbon.
 If one of the two hydrogen
atoms on every other carbon is
replaced with a chlorine atom,
we will have poly(vinyl
chloride). This polymer is
commonly referred to as PVC.
DIFFERENCE between POLYMER and
PLASTICS?
 Polymers can exist organically
or be created synthetically, and
consist of chains of joined
individual molecules or
monomers. You need a molecule
that can easily bond to another
identical molecule at two points
 Plastics are a type of polymer
composed of chains of polymers
which can be partially organic or
fully synthetic.
 Simply put, all plastics are
polymers, but not all polymers
are plastics.
TWO CLASSIFICATIONS OF POLYMERS
 Thermoplastic polymers melt

or deform on heating. This
may seem like a weakness
because it means that they are
not suitable for high
temperature applications. But
a great many plastic objects,
including children’s toys and
bottles of many sorts, are
generally used at ambient
temperatures.
TWO CLASSIFICATIONS OF POLYMERS
 Thermosetting polymers,
which can maintain their
shape and strength when
heated. The name
“thermosetting” comes
from the fact that these
polymers must be heated
to set or “lock in” their
structures.
 But once this has been
done, the materials offer
increased strength and do
not lose their shape upon
further heating.
HISTORY of PLASTICS
 Plastic is a word that
originally meant “pliable
and easily shaped.”
 The first synthetic
polymer was invented in
1869 by John Wesley
Hyatt, who was inspired
by a New York firm’s offer
of $10,000 for anyone
who could provide a
substitute for ivory.
HISTORY of PLASTICS
 The price currently paid for raw
ivory in Asia, according to an
investigation by the Wildlife
Justice Commission, is
currently between $597/kg and
$689/kg, in U.S. dollars or Php
30,746 and Php 35,483.5/kg
 Ivory, variety of dentin of
which the tusk of the elephant
is composed and which is
prized for its beauty, durability,
and suitability for carving.
HISTORY of PLASTICS
 Ivory is similar to a hardwood in
some of its properties. It is quite
dense, it polishes beautifully, and
it is easily worked with
woodworking tools.
 About a third of the tusk is
embedded in the bone sockets of
the animal’s skull.
 By treating cellulose, derived from
cotton fiber, with camphor, John
Wesley Hyatt discovered a plastic
that could be crafted into a variety
of shapes and made to imitate
natural substances like
tortoiseshell, horn, linen, and ivory.
TYPES OF PLASTICS
 The polymer that Hyatt
created did not really go
well because the nitrated
cellulose will explode in
warm breeze
 Alteration in the
monomers lead to the
creation of various types
of plastics
TYPES OF PLASTICS
TYPES OF PLASTICS
TYPES OF PLASTICS
TYPES OF PLASTICS
TYPES OF PLASTICS
TYPES OF PLASTICS
TYPES OF PLASTICS
THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTICS
 We produce 300 million tons of
plastic, the weight equivalent of
50 million African elephants,
each year! The amount of
plastic we have thrown away is
so large that there is a plastic
garbage patch in the Pacific
Ocean that is currently three
times the size of France.
 Virtually all seabirds have
plastic in their stomachs, and
roughly 1 million sea creatures
die from plastic each year.
 Plastics can take anywhere from
20 to 500 years to decompose,
depending on the material and
structure.
 Single-use plastic grocery bags
take about two decades to break
down. In contrast, plastic water
bottles made with polyethylene
terephthalate (PET), a common
type of plastic, are estimated to
take approximately 450 years to
fully break down.
 In 2009, researchers from Nihon
University in Chiba, Japan, found
that plastic in warm ocean water
can degrade in as little as a year.
This doesn't sound so bad until
you realize those small bits of
plastic are toxic chemicals such as
bisphenol A (BPA) and PS
oligomer.
 These end up in the guts of
animals or wash up on shorelines,
where humans are most likely to
come into direct contact with the
toxins.
BIODEGRADABLE
PLASTICS?
 The term “bioplastics” is actually used
for two separate things: bio-based
plastics (plastics made at least partly
from biological matter) and
biodegradable plastics (plastics that
can be completely broken down by
microbes in a reasonable timeframe,
given specific conditions).
 Not all bio-based plastics are
biodegradable, and not all
biodegradable plastics are bio-based.
And even biodegradable plastics might
not biodegrade in every environment. https://youtu.be/erGnf7ws20E
BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS?
 PET, for example — short for
polyethylene terephthalate,
which is the stuff most
bottles are made of — can
be synthesized from fossil
fuel products or plants like
sugarcane.
 PLA (polylactic acid) is
typically made from the
sugars in corn starch,
cassava or sugarcane.
It is
biodegradable, carbon- neutral and edible.
https://youtu.be/fLU6EkR0s_g
PLASTICS FROM FRUIT WASTE
 Consortium
members
investigated
biodegradable
barrier coatings for
plastic packaging
materials in
which the biopolymers are
derived from fibrous fruit
residues (lignocellulose).
 https://bioplasticsnews.com
/2019/03/21/swedish-
researcher-makes-
bioplastic-from-fruit-waste/
PLASTICS FROM FISH WASTE
 She developed a plastic-like
material made from scales and
skin. Not only is it made from
waste, it’s also biodegradable.
 The resulting product is strong,
flexible and translucent, with a
feel similar to plastic sheeting.
It biodegrades on its own in
four to six weeks
 https://youtu.be/AHKaChoCDW
8
PLASTICS FROM SEAWEED
https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/filipino-scientist- https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/indonesia-
creates-bioplastic-from-mango-seaweed-food-waste/ wants-to-make-seaweed-new-sustainable-plastic/
PLASTICS IN ENGINEERING
• 5 Common Plastic
Building Materials
Acrylic.
Composites
Polycarbonate
Polypropylene
Polyvinyl Chloride.

Polymers

Uploaded by

Polymers

Uploaded by

POLYMERS

 Thermoplastic polymers melt

You might also like