The Chemistry Behind Polymers

The chemistry behind polymers, the substance from which plastic is made, is very important in the everyday lives of the average person. To start, “The simplest definition of a polymer is a useful chemical made of many repeating units” (“The Basics”). Further, polymers are not limited to just plastics, but all types of plastic are polymers (“Plastics”). Some examples of polymers include cellulose and DNA (“Plastics”). Plastics are used everywhere in life today, and understanding the way that they are formed is important to understand, as it connects to modern issues such as recycling. Notably, polymers can be composed of a variety of different organic materials, most of which include carbon. The building blocks of polymers, called monomers, …show more content…
Polymerization is the synthesis of monomers using a catalyst (“Plastics”). The text describes the process of polymerization, “Each of these small molecules is known as a monomer ("one part") because it 's capable of joining with other monomers to form very long molecule chains called polymers ("many parts") during a chemical reaction called polymerization” (“Plastics”). During any one time in polymerization, millions of these polymer chains can be developed (“Plastics”). The product that results from this process is considered a resin, and it is the resin that is then developed into a plastic (“Plastics”). Furthermore, the alteration of the polymerization process can change the properties of the resulting product. The text mentions, “Controlling the polymerization process and quenching molten polymers can result in amorphous organization. An amorphous arrangement of molecules has no long-range order or form in which the polymer chains arrange themselves” (“The Basics”). This quote demonstrates how rapid cooling of the polymers impacts the organization of the polymer structure. Additionally, the polymer structure determines the amount of light that can pass through the plastic. Notably, polymers with a crystalline arrangement, or a fixed order, are more likely to be translucent or opaque (“The Basics”). Not to mention, the degree of the crystals affects the strength, firmness, chemical resistance, and the …show more content…
To enumerate, the alteration of polymerization can result in the potential development of two distinct types of plastics, thermoplastics and thermosets. Thermoplastics can be remelted and shaped, but on the other hand thermosets cannot (“The Basics”). These differences are due to the dissimilarity between the way that the chains within the polymer are formed. Correspondingly, the two different types of plastics, as a whole, are made in completely different ways in order to produce the desired properties. For example, thermoplastics are formed by putting resin pellets into a mold at at high temperature and pressure when the mold is released, the plastic is ready (“Plastics”). Whereas, thermosets are formed by curing linear polymers through the use of heat, pressure, or a catalyst, this process creates a network structure that can no longer be melted (“Plastics”). The differences between these two methods of development then in turn affect the ability of each resulting plastic to be remelted. The text states, “Thermoplastics have long, linear polymer chains that are only weakly chemically bonded, or connected, to each other. When a thermoplastic object is heated, these bonds are easily broken, which makes the polymers able to glide past each other like strands of freshly cooked spaghetti” (“Plastics”). Conversely, “The linear chains are crosslinked - strongly chemically bonded. This