What are “Plastics”?
Plastics are materials consisting of a wide range of synthetic compounds including carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine etc. derived from petroleum, petroleum gas, coal, plant, air, water, salt etc. mixed with additives and fillers as needed.
These are classified or grouped as ;
・Thermosets and Thermoplastics based on thermal characteristics,
・Crystalline and Amorphous based on arrangement of molecules and
・Commodity plastics and Engineering plastics based on heat resistance.
Rubbers, fibers, paints and adhesives are usually not dealt with in plastics.
What is “Polymer”?
A polymer is a large molecule composed of many repeated subunits. Polymers are created by polymerization of many small molecules known as monomers.
Polymers include:
・Plastics such as synthetic polymers, Polyethylene, Polystyrene…,
・Rubbers such as natural/biological polymer, Polyisoprene…,
・Biological macromolecules such as Protein, DNA etc.