Past, present & future of plastics

PAST, PRESENT &

FUTURE OF

PLASTICS

-Presented by

P. Deepak Kumar

CONTENTS

• What is Plastic?

• Why Plastic?

• History of Plastic

• Present Scenario of Plastic

• Future Scenario of Plastic

• References

What is Plastic?

• Any formless material that can be molded

or modeled under heat or pressure.

Why Plastic?

• Economic

• More durable

• Good elastic strength

• Easy to molded

History of Plastic

• In 1862,

Alexander Parkes

made first plastic

“Parkesine” from

cellulose.

• Buttons, comb,

pen

• In 1868, John Wesley

Hyatt blended

nitrocellulose with

camphor and formed

“Pyroxylin”.

• Used as Billiard balls,

Shirt collars, eyeglass

frames and pen

housings.

• In 1872, Eugen Baumann created

“Polyvinyl Chloride”.

• Waldo L. Semon, showed the use of PVC

• In 1909, Dr. Leo

Baekeland invented

“Bakelite”.

• Phenol-formaldehyde

resins were called

Bakelite.

• First totally synthetic

plastic (1907)

• Replaced rubber for

insulation in electrics

• In 1920, German Hermann Staudinger

published his theories on “poly addition”.

• Nine year later published the

polymerization of polystyrene.

• 1930’s research on

polymer chains at

DuPont Chemical

Department

• Published theory of

poly-condensation

• Invented Neoprene

and Nylon

Present Scenario Of Plastic

• Plastic used as “artificial hip”.

• The plastic liner is made from Ultra High

Molecular Weight Polyethylene and acts

like a bearing.

• The UHMWPE is extremely tough,

abrasion resistant and has a very low

coefficient of friction.

• Fire safety

equipment's.

• Helmet is made of

“polyetherimide”.

• Micro plastic

medical parts.

• Automobile exterior body panel. Example

Saturn by General Motors.

• Telephone wires

• Cell phone bodies

• The new materials science field known as

“nanoscience”.

• Products like:

• Nylon (Ropes, tent and parachute straps,

belts, etc.)

• Teflon (Polytetrafluoroethylene

(PTFE),First used for artillery shell covers)

Future Scenario Of Plastic

• 3-D Body Part Printing: Researchers are

using a layered assembly manufacturing

technique—called "3-D printing"—to

create medical devices and implants using

plastics.

• Bacteria-Resistant Plastics: These plastics

have "non-stick" surfaces that bacteria

aren't attracted to, which could help

prevent contamination from bacteria

"biofilms."

• OLEDs (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes)

are used for the illumination of mobile

phone, PDA and e-book reader displays –

with polymers as the source of

illumination.

References

• inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpla

stic.htm

• http://blog.eun.org/futurenergia/2011/03/w

hat_is_the_future_of_plastics.html

• www.lle.mdx.ac.uk/site/docs/dt/Historyofpl

astics.html

• www.americanplasticscouncil.org/benefits/

about_plastics/history.html

Thank You for Attention