POLYMERS

Natural Polymers
Natural polymers are common in animals and plants. Much living tissue is based on polymers – for example proteins in animals and carbohydrates in plants. A lot of our food is based on polymers – for example, fibre, grain and meeat. Plants and animals also produce non-living materials based on polymers.
These are usually produced as fibres and then have to be processed to produce materials such as threads and fabrics. These include: rubber products, gums and resins, clays, bitumens and waxes, hoof and horns, casein products and cellulose products

Synthetic Polymers
While natural polymers are still part of the plastics world nowadays the word plastic is generally reserved for syn¬thetic plastic materials. Synthetic polymers are made mainly from petroleum (crude oil) or natural gas. This is processed in an oil refinery to produce basic chemicals known as monomers. The monomers are then turned into polymers.
Some polymers are turned into solid plastics material, and others into textile fibres. Some can be turned into either, depending on how they are processed. In some cases synthetic plastics are mixed with, or used in combination with, natural materials. Most of this educational resource is based around the synthetic plastics that originate from the petrochemical industry.