Requirement of Polymers
A Polymer is chemical compound which is made of a large molecule consisting of repeating chemical units connected to each other by a covalent chemical bond. These chemical units or structural units are known as Monomer and this total chain as Polymer. This word is derived from two Greek words, “poly” meaning many and “meros” meaning part. These polymers could be found in nature or could be synthetic. Plastic, natural rubber, DNA, proteins are some examples of natural and synthetic polymers.
It is generally thought that plastic is the only man made polymer. But, that is not so. Other examples of synthetic polymers are Bakelite, Nylon, PVC, Polystyrene etc.
Synthetic polymers are used extensively in various industries and for many different applications. This has made use of these synthetic polymers especially plastics very popular both in industry as well as in our everyday life.
Some of the fields where these synthetic polymers are being used are:
· Materials made from synthetic polymers are used in and on soil to improve its property of aeration, provide protective soil covering and help plant growth and health.
· Polymers like Dacron, Teflon and polyurethane are used as biomaterial in replacement heart valves or blood vessels.
· Plastic containers are very light and durable. They are used in various shapes and sizes both at homes, shops and industries. They are much cheaper than wooden crates etc. used earlier. Plastic has become very popular as a packaging material including packing of fruits and vegetables.
· Synthetic polymers are extensively used in industry because of its strength and light weight. Automobile parts, water pipes and tanks, packing materials, insulation, wood substitute, adhesives etc. are some of its industrial applications.
New fields where these polymers could be used are being found out every day. They are being developed for such fields such as storage and conduction of electricity, molecular based information storage and processing, new light weight composite materials, membranes used in reverse osmosis and separation techniques.
But, we should be aware of some of the demerits of using these polymers extensively. In some of the countries toys made from PVC are banned because of its toxicity. This is one of the reasons the experts do not recommend storing very cold foods in plastic containers or heating them (specially in microwave ovens) because some chemical components of plastic may leech into these food products. Plastic materials are very durable and they create various environmental problem. Burning of plastic materials create air pollution.
In future, we should use these polymers judiciously keeping in mind the merits and demerits of using this material.
This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Polymers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.