Thermoplastics

Thermoplastics are the modern day plastics. They were first developed around the mid 19th century. And since then, they are being widely used in all sorts of industries. The major reason behind the industries choosing thermoplastics over thermosets is that unlike thermosets, thermoplastics can be reformed.

Thermoplastics are held together with inter-molecular forces (comparatively weaker than the cross-linked bonds as in the case of thermosets) which makes these polymers easier to be moulded/formed and also gives them the ability to be reformed.

These can be strengthened using appropriate additives and hence are today not only replacing the use of thermosets but also steel and aluminum in many applications due to their light weight.

An interesting thing about these plastics is that because many companies today produce these, they give them their own unique trade names. For instance, Nylon produced by Dupont is called Zytel, while the same plastic when produced by Sabic is called Lubricomp. And the same thing goes for all the other polymers asd well. This is basically done for their identification.

Other interesting factor; most of you must have noticed the triangular symbol made on every plastic product, ever wondered what it stands for? These are called resin identification codes. They basically tell you what polymer is the product made of. The idea behind these codes is their identification for the purpose of recycling, as they most of them have to be processed in a differnet manner from the others in order to be recycled.

Resin Identification Codes