Chemistry Sectors: Plastics
|
|
From the humble plastic bag to the latest, state-of-the-art mobile telephone, plastics are now so much part of our daily lives that it is almost impossible to imagine the world without them.
Plastics are at the heart of many of the technological advances of the last hundred years. Packaging, communications, transport, medicine and construction are just some of the areas of our lives in which plastics are now crucial – enabling smaller, lighter, stronger, more affordable products than ever before.
Yet just over 100 years ago, plastics did not exist. The first examples were then made from cellulose and coal tar. But it was only in the 1930s, when chemists began to understand the reactions they were observing, that they were able to accelerate the search for new types of base material. The transition to using chemicals contained in crude oil as this base led to the huge growth in plastics from the mid-20th century onwards.
Polystyrene, acrylic polymers, PVC, nylon, polyethylene, polyurethane, polyester, epoxy resins, polycarbonates and silicones were all developed during this period. Many of the most common were based on just three chemicals derived from the naphtha fraction of oil.
These were joined from 1970s onwards by high performance polymers such as polyamides and polyacetals. Since then, continually evolving catalyst technologies have allowed the development of polymers with improved molecular structures. These help to meet specific design needs and allow innovative solutions to be found to many of today’s needs.
 |
|
Want to know more? Find out about the associations representing specific areas of this sector:
|
|
|