ABSTRACT
Large industries have grown around artificial polymers or commercial utilization of natural polymers. This chapter focuses attention on some of these industries. Many components of living systems are polymers: proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids. A very early human industry involved the utilization of some of these natural polymers, including wool and cotton, to produce clothing. Plastics are structural polymers and generally are synthesized using petroleum starting materials. Foams, plastics with gas bubbles throughout the finished product, can be produced using either thermoplastics or thermoset resins. Bubbles are produced either because the polymerization reaction releases a gas or a foaming agent is added to the plastic that generates a gas as the plastic is heated. Textiles are prepared from a number of natural and synthetic polymeric materials Textiles are a major end user of such polymers as polyesters, nylons, and polyolefins.
