Many people may not be aware that they are using polymers and monomers in their everyday life, and as the technology improves, so too have the uses and improvements in these everyday applications. This article looks at everyday applications that are much simpler and easier because of these developments in polymer chemistry and technology.
Polymer chemistry
This is the branch of chemistry and chemical engineering that is concerned with the production of large molecules using the repetition of smaller units known as monomers. You manufacture polymers from targeted chemical reactions of monomers to create longer, stronger-linked chains. There are natural polymers, such as wood and silk, but it is the development of synthetic long-linked polymers that is of most interest here because of the changes/improvements they will be able to make to our everyday lives.
Long or cross-linked polymers are the future of most chemical engineering, and the ability to join various monomers is now one of the most cutting-edge science fields of the moment, with firms such as Polymer Chemistry Innovations driving these innovations. It is a science that can make use of green and sustainable base monomers to create polymers that are better for the planet than the acrylic polymers we have relied on for so long.
The products
The range of products and their associated uses is vast and varied, and as the chemical engineering sector grows and develops, there will be further improvements: clothing, cups, fiberglass, epoxy glue, silicon, and silicon-coated cookware, to name but a few, are all seeing improvements based on the ability to join monomers together. In this range of household use products is the polymer-based sustainable cleaners; these are proving to be much more disinfecting, as well as harsher on grime and bacteria. They can also be sustainable, as the monomers used to create them are biodegradable and green.
One of the main prospective uses of this polymer revolution is plastics and the ability to make long-lasting plastic alternatives from naturally occurring monomers that are joined together. The aim is to produce a material that is sustainable and also biodegradable. With plastic being one of the main pollutants of our time, it is expected and hoped that the advances in polymer research will be the route to a plastic-free future.
Then there are those who are looking at how we can improve medical applications by making polymers stronger, as well as cleaner and smaller. Heart valves, nerve channels, and some of the most intricate aspects of the medical field are now possible with the advances in polymer chemistry.
There are advances in fields such as chemical engineering, polymer chemistry, and medical research that are changing the manner in which we live and work, but it is also these changes and advancements that may change how long we live as well. The field of polymer chemistry is one that has come a long way and arguably, still has a way to go to be able to make everyday lives a lot easier, as well as providing the basis for improvements and developments in healthcare and medicine. It is a field that has the ability to affect all of our lives and, as such, is worth taking note of.
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