POLYMERS AND PLASTICS University of Calgary（聚合物和塑料卡尔加里大学）.pdfVIP

PP.1 POLYMERS AND PLASTICS TECHNIQUES REQUIRED : Reflux apparatus OTHER DOCUMENTS Experimental procedure, Report template INTRODUCTION Chemically, plastics are chainlike molecules of high molecular weight, called polymers and are built up from simpler chemicals, the individual links, called monomers. A different monomer or combination of monomers is used to manufacture each different type or family of polymers. There are many polymers around us that are so familiar we take them for granted. Examples of man-made polymers are Teflon, nylon, Dacron, polyethylene, polyester, Orlon, epoxy, vinyl, polyurethane, silicones, Lucite, and boat resin. Examples of natural polymers are starch and cellulose (from glucose), rubber (from isoprene) and proteins (from amino acids). Certainly, polymers have had and continue to have a great influence on our society. As these materials have been created, problems have arisen concerning their use. Many are not biodegradable, they contribute a significant volume to the garbage we create and the raw materials for their manufacture are a finite resource. Plastic recycling is an important process for reducing waste and recovering potentially valuable raw materials, for example, it has been possible to buy fleece clothing made from recycled materials for several years. CHEMICAL STRUCTURES OF POLYMERS Basically a polymer is made up of many repeating molecular units formed by sequential addition of monomer molecules to one another. Many monomer molecules of A, say 1,000 to 1,000,000, can be linked to form a gigantic polymeric molecule: Many A etc A A A A A etc. or ( A ) Monomer