About Plastic
Plastic Defined
Plastic:
Any of various complex organic compounds produced by polymerization, capable of being molded, extruded, cast into various shapes and films, or drawn into filaments used as textile fibers. -- Webster's Dictionary
Plastic is the general term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. They are composed of organic condensation or addition polymers and may contain other substances to improve performance or economics. There are few natural polymers generally considered to be "plastics". Plastics can be formed into objects or films or fibers. Their name is derived from the fact that many are malleable, having the property of plasticity - Wikipedia
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Plastic letter fridge magnets
Plastic pipe joint
Plastic plain white bottles
Plastic oxygen mask
Some Plastic Fast Facts :
- Over 200 million tonnes of plastic are produced annually.
- Each of us on average uses 190 pounds of plastic annually: bottled water, fast food packaging, furniture, syringes, computers and computer diskettes, packing materials, garbage bags and so much more.
When was plastic first invented?
English inventor Alexander Parkes (1813—1890) created the earliest form of plastic in 1855. He produced a hard but flexible transparent material, which he called "Parkesine." Parkes teamed up with a manufacturer to produce Parkesine; however, they were unable to market it.
In 1868, an American inventor, John Wesley Hyatt (1837-1920), acquired the patent to Parkesine and set out to produce artificial ivory for billiard balls. Hyatt modified Parkes's process, the result was a hard, flexible material called celluloid. The celluloid was soon used in many other applications to make household items, such as buttons, letter openers and much more.
Elsewhere in Europe, next to cellulose nitrate, the most important material in the early history of plastics was formaldehyde. Around 1897 there was a demand in German schools for a white chalkboard. Efforts to obtain such a product resulted in the discovery of casein plastics, produced by reacting casein (milk protein) with formaldehyde. The material soon became established under the trade names of Galalith and Erinoid. Today, casein still is used by the button industry.
The growth of plastic
The period 1930-1940 saw the initial commercial development of today’s major thermoplastics: polyvinyl chloride, low density polyethylene, polystyrene, and polymethyl methacrylate. The advent of World War II in 1939 brought plastics into great demand, largely as substitutes for materials in short supply, such as natural rubber.
In the United States, the crash program leading to large-scale production of synthetic rubbers resulted in extensive research into the chemistry of polymer formation and, eventually, to the development of more plastic materials. The first decade after World War II saw further developments and large-scale production of these materials reduced their cost dramatically.
The new materials began to compete with the older plastics and even with the more traditional materials such as wood, paper, metal, glass, and leather. The introduction of alloys and blends of various polymers made it possible to tailor properties to fit certain performance requirements that a single resin could not provide.
The demand for plastics has increased steadily; plastics are now accepted by designers and engineers as basic materials along with the more traditional materials. The automotive industry, for instance, relies on plastics to reduce weight and thus increase energy efficiency.
The use of plastics in building and construction
The Building and Construction sector -currently the second largest user of plastics in Europe -is expected still to grow substantially in the future.
Plastics have over the years become a material of choice for achieving economic and environmental balance between technological challenges and functional design.
Plastics in Building and Construction applications
- plastics for decorative laminates
- plastics for drainage and irrigation pipes
- plastics for drinking water pipes
- plastics for electrics and electronics
- plastics for fittings
- plastics for floor and wall coverings
- plastics for insulation materials
- plastics for roofing
- plastics for sewer pipes and ducts
- plastics for waterproofing
- plastics for window and door profiles
Plastics Features and Advantages in Building and Construction
- durability, corrosion resistant
- cold, heat and sound insulation for energy saving and noise reduction
- cost efficiency
- light weight
- maintenance free
- innovation applications with unlimited choice of surface, colours and materials for creative design
- recyclability
The Future of Plastic
The air and auto industry are working hard to develop new ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Boeing will be using new plastic composites in the assembly of the 787. The airframe will be half composite by weight - the highest percentage of plastic used in any commercial jetliner. TATA, the Indian car maker is seeking to manufacture a plastic car in India costing less than USD$2500.00.
An innovation which will radiclly shape the future are the new applications of plastic composites based on multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNT). These are commonly referred to as Carbon Nanotubes. Imagine skiing downhill without vibration? They are already responsible for "The worlds toughest hockey stick" from manufacturer Montreal (website also has a free online ice hockey game).
An article in Technology Review highlighted the work by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). They have made a polymer material that can heal itself repeatedly when it cracks. It's a significant advance toward self-healing medical implants and self-repairing materials for use in airplanes and spacecraft. It could also be used for cooling microprocessors and electronic circuits, and it could pave the way toward plastic coatings that regenerate themselves. Imagine, scratching your laptop cover and then wiping it with a impregnated cloth, leaving it for an hour and it being as good as new!
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