The familiar categories of materials called plastics, fibers, rubbers, and adhesives consist of a diverse array of synthetic and natural polymers. It would be impossible to conceive of our modern world without the ubiquitous presence of polymeric materials. Polymers are used as film packaging, solid molded forms for automobile body parts and TV cabinets, composites for golf clubs and aircraft parts (airframe as well as interior), foams for coffee cups and refrigerator insulation, fibers for clothing and carpets, adhesives for attaching anything to anything, rubber for tires and tubing, paints and other coatings to beautify and prolong the life of other materials, and a myriad of other uses. Polymers are now produced in great quantity and variety. Polymers constitute a high-value-added part of the petroleum customer base and have led to increasing international competition in the manufacture of commodity materials as well as engineering thermoplastics and specialty polymers. Less than 5 percent of the petroleum barrel is used for polymers, and thus petroleum is likely to remain as the principal raw material for the indefinite future. Polymers are derived from petroleum, and their low cost has its roots in the abundance of the feedstock, in the ingenuity of the chemical engineers who devised the processes of manufacture, and in the economies of scale that have come with increased usage. Further advances and breakthroughs supporting the economy can be expected in the coming years. Polymers have gone from being cheap substitutes for natural products to providing high-quality options for a wide variety of applications. ![]() While noted improvements have taken place in the area of ceramics and metals, it is the field of polymers that has experienced an explosion in progress. ![]() ![]() Materials as a field is most commonly represented by ceramics, metals, and polymers.
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