World without plastic

It would be difficult to imagine the modern world without plastics. Today they are an integral part of everyone s life-style, with products varying from commonplace domestic to sophisticated scientific products.451 As a matter of fact, many of the technical wonders we take... 

It is now a common feeling that our world cannot survive as it is without plastics [1]. Starting from 1930, when the macromolecular concept started to gain acceptance in the scientific community [2], the advances in polymer science have been so striking that plastics have invaded almost every aspect of modern human life, both as daily materials and as sophisticated substrates able to cover high-tech applications [3]. A very easy and simple way to check this assertion is to visit the The Macrogalleria web site (1st floor) [4] where an extensive exemplification of the most common and important plastic applications in different fields is provided in a really immediate and impressive way. 

There are approximately 16 million known chemical compounds, the majority of which are not found in nature. Although many of the known compounds are of little use or importance, some of them would be difficult or almost impossible to live without. Try to visualize living in a world without concrete, synthetic fibers, fertilizer, steel, soap, glass, or plastics. None of these materials is found in nature in the form in which it is used, yet they are all produced from naturally occurring raw materials. All of the items listed and an enormous number of others are created by chemical processes. But created from what ... 

Real-World Reading Link Think how different your life would be without plastic sandwich bags, plastic foam cups, nylon and polyester fabrics, vinyl siding on buildings, foam cushions, and a variety of other synthetic materials. These products all have at least one thing in common—they are made of polymers. 

Although the convenience of plastic bags is perhaps outweighed by their blight on the environment, think of what we would not have if we had none of the polymeric materials invented by chemists and then fabricated in bulk. Think of a world without nylon and the polyesters of fabrics for clothing, upholstery, and decoration. Think of a world with only heavy metal containers for drinks, food, and household fluids. Think... 

The world production of plastics was 1.5 million tons in 1950. It increased twentyfold by 1970, and doubled during the following decade, reaching 75 million tons by 1985. The consumption of plastics has increased at a much higher rate than any other engineering material, such as steel, other metals, wood, and cement. More and more kinds of plastics replace conventional structural materials. Technical novelties that could not exist without plastics appear on the market continuously. 

The latter, like nylon, and polyethylene, was essential during World War II for parachutes, radar cable and atomic energy. Today s engineers would probably find It extremely difficult to imagine a world without polyfluorocarbon plastics, elastomers, fibers and coatings. 

Domestic and commercial furniture and fittings form another important market. Uses include stacking chairs, armchair body shells, foam upholstery and desk and cupboard drawers, whilst chipboard and decorative laminates are very widely used. The variety of finishes possible at a relatively low cost compared to traditional materials as well as ease of maintenance are important in raising standards of living around the world. As with other applications the use of plastics in furniture is not without its detractors and in particular there is concern... 

However, they do more than merely replace. They are lighter than metals, less brittle than glass, tougher than wood, less permeable than paper, more resistant than ceramics, and more decorative than cardboard. Plastics, and polystyrene as one of them, have secured their own firm place in the modern world and it is hard to imagine life without them. 

The contribution from Catalysis to the economics is remarkable. Based on estimates from the North American Chemical Society between 15 and 20%f the world gross net product are provided by catalytic processes [5]. Thereby the catalysis costs are much less than the sales revenues from the products, which they help to create, making catalysis a key technology to the sustainable and cost effective production of chemicals. Numerous things of our daily life like gasoline, plastics, cars, computers or drugs would not exist at all or at least not be available in the today s quality without catalysis. At BASF for example over 80%f the 8000 products see at least once a catalyst during their production cycle. 

Like most stories, that of chemistry has another side, less often noted or remarked but a whole lot more pleasant. The world of chemistry is the world of molecules. It is a complex, critical, and fascinating world. Molecules and their constituents (atoms) make up all matter. Specific molecules affect every aspect of our lives every day, frequently for better but occasionally for worse. The simple fact is that almost everything that we use in daily life has been chemically modified in some way consider plastics, alloys, detergents and soaps, paper, perfumes and colognes, and our drinking water. It is difficult to imagine life without the products of modem chemistry. 

You saw in Chapter 6 that crude oil is made up of a complex mixture of hydrocarbon compounds. This mixture is a very important raw material in the organic chemical industry. Our world would be a very different place without these substances. Can you imagine life without the substances from oil and natural gas There would be no oil-based fuels, such as petrol and diesel, and the chemical industry, particularly the plastics industry, would also suffer since substances extracted from oil are used as raw materials for many plastics. 

An improved amphibious device was developed in the USA. It consisted of metal boxes filled with plastic foam and attached to the front, rear and sides of the tank in such a manner that they could be detached from the tank by the crew without getting out. The tank was propelled through the water at speeds up to 6 mph by simply driving the tanks in the normal manner. The advantages of this system were that the tank turret was above water and the weapons could be fired if necessary on approaching the enemy shote. This device was used for light and medium tanks (See also Amphibious Vehicles and Amphttack) Ref G.B.Bames, "Weapons of World War II, Van Nostrand,NY(1947),232-3... 

---