Describe plastic how it is manufacture

and its types

Plastic:
A synthetic material made from a wide range of organic polymers such as
polyethylene, PVC, nylon, etc., that can be moulded into shape while soft, and
then set into a rigid or slightly elastic form.

Plastics are used on a daily basis throughout the world. The word plastic is a
common term that is used for many materials of a synthetic or semi-synthetic
nature. The term was derived from the Greek plastikos, which means “fit for
molding.” Plastics are a wide variety of combinations of properties when
viewed as a whole. They are used for shellac, cellulose, rubber, and asphalt.
We also synthetically manufacture items such as clothing, packaging,
automobiles, electronics, aircrafts, medical supplies, and recreational items.
The list could go on and on and it is obvious that much of what we have today
would not be possible without plastics.

One way plastics changed the world was in cost. It was so much cheaper to
manufacture than other materials and the various ways it could be used was
staggering. For instance, the use of polymers, which are substances with a
higher molecule mass and which have a large number of repeating units, is
common today. There are synthetic polymers, which are produced on a large
scale and have many properties and uses. And there are naturally occurring
polymers, which include starches, cellulose, proteins, and latex. Polymers are
molecules (monomers) that join together like a chain with one or more
monomers. The polymers are changed depending on the incorporation of
these monomers. If the atoms in the monomers are combined with the
polymer, it is called an addition polymer. When some of the atoms of the
monomers are released into small molecules, as in liquid, then the polymer is
called a condensation polymer. A double bond between carbon atoms is most
common in addition polymers.
In the early part of the twentieth century, a big boom occurred in polymer
chemistry when polymer materials such as nylon and Kevlar came on the
scene. Much of the work done with polymers focuses improvement while using
existing technologies, but chemists do have opportunities ahead. There is a
need for the development of new applications for polymers, always looking for
less expensive materials that can replace what is used now. Chemists have to
be more aware of what the market yearns for, such as products with a green
emphasis, polymers that break down or are environmentally friendly. Concerns
such as these have brought new activity to the science arena and there are
always new discoveries to be made.

Old plastics are usually thrown away and put in landfills. Some plastics release
toxic fumes when heated. Some plastics are recycled so they won't become
waste. Some plastics have other materials added to them, like glass, because
they make the plastic stronger and stiffer.

Plastics are mostly petrochemicals, made from natural gas or from petroleum,
a type of oil. Chemical engineers refine the petroleum which goes through a
heating process. It develops ethylene and propylene, which are the chemical
building blocks for many plastics. These chemicals are then combined with
other chemicals to produce a polymer.

Today, some of these plastics are also being made without oil. Instead, other
sources like plants and bacteria are used to make the plastic. These plastics are
called bioplastics. They are useful because they can be eaten by other bacteria
instead of throwing them away.

Manufacturing of plastic:
Compounding
The first step in most plastic fabrication procedures is compounding,
the mixing together of various raw materials in proportions according to a
specific recipe. Most often the plastic resins are supplied to the fabricator as
cylindrical pellets (several millimetres in diameter and length) or as flakes and
powders. Other forms include viscous liquids, solutions, and suspensions.
Mixing liquids with other ingredients may be done in conventional stirred
tanks, but certain operations demand special machinery.

Forming
The process of forming plastics into various shapes typically involves the steps
of melting, shaping, and solidifying. As an example, polyethylene pellets can be
heated above Tm, placed in a mold under pressure, and cooled to below Tm in
order to make the final product dimensionally stable. Thermoplastics in
general are solidified by cooling below Tg or Tm. Thermosets are solidified by
heating in order to carry out the chemical reactions necessary for network
formation.

Extrusion
In extrusion, a melted polymer is forced through an orifice with a
particular cross section (the die), and a continuous shape is formed with a
constant cross section similar to that of the orifice. Although thermosets can
be extruded and cross-linked by heating the extrudate, thermoplastics that are
extruded and solidified by cooling are much more common. Among the
products that can be produced by extrusion are film, sheet, tubing, pipes,
insulation, and home siding. In each case the profile is determined by the die
geometry, and solidification is by cooling.

Longitudinal section of a screw extruder of thermoplastic polymers. Plastic

pellets are fed from a hopper into the barrel of the extruder, where the pellets
are gradually melted by mechanical energy generated by a turning screw and
by heaters arranged along the barrel. The molten polymer is forced through a
die, which shapes the extrudate into products such as the examples
shown.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

figureMost plastic grocery bags and similar items are made by the continuous
extrusion of tubing. In blow extrusion, the tube is expanded before being
cooled by being made to flow around a massive air bubble. Air is prevented
from escaping from the bubble by collapsing the film on the other side of the
bubble. For some applications, laminated structures may be made by extruding
more than one material at the same time through the same die or through
multiple dies. Multilayer films are useful since the outer layers may contribute
strength and moisture resistance while an inner layer may control oxygen
permeability—an important factor in food packaging. The layered films may be
formed through blow extrusion, or extrudates from three machines may be
pressed together in a die block to form a three-layer flat sheet that is
subsequently cooled by contact with a chilled roll.

Compression molding
In the simplest form of compression molding, a molding powder (or pellets,
which are also sometimes called molding powder) is heated and at the same
time compressed into a specific shape. In the case of a thermoset, the melting
must be rapid, since a network starts to form immediately, and it is essential
for the melt to fill the mold completely before solidification progresses to the
point where flow stops. The highly cross-linked molded article can be removed
without cooling the mold. Adding the next charge to the mold is facilitated by
compressing the exact required amount of cold molding powder into a
preformed “biscuit.” Also, the biscuit can be preheated by microwave energy
to near the reaction temperature before it is placed in the mold cavity. A
typical heater, superficially resembling a microwave oven, may apply as much
as 10 kilovolts at a frequency of one megahertz. Commercial molding machines
use high pressures and temperatures to shorten the cycle time for each
molding. The molded article is pushed out of the cavity by the action of ejector
pins, which operate automatically when the mold is opened.

Injection molding
It is usually slow and inefficient to mold thermoplastics using the compression
molding techniques described above. In particular, it is necessary to cool a
thermoplastic part before removing it from the mold, and this requires that
the mass of metal making up the mold also be cooled and then reheated for
each part. Injection molding is a method of overcoming this inefficiency.
Injection molding resembles transfer molding in that the liquefying of the resin
and the regulating of its flow is carried out in a part of the apparatus that
remains hot, while the shaping and cooling is carried out in a part that remains
cool. In a reciprocating screw injection molding machine, material flows under
gravity from the hopper onto a turning screw. The mechanical energy supplied
by the screw, together with auxiliary heaters, converts the resin into a molten
state. At the same time the screw retracts toward the hopper end. When a
sufficient amount of resin is melted, the screw moves forward, acting as a ram
and forcing the polymer melt through a gate into the cooled mold. Once the
plastic has solidified in the mold, the mold is unclamped and opened, and the
part is pushed from the mold by automatic ejector pins. The mold is then
closed and clamped, and the screw turns and retracts again to repeat the cycle
of liquefying a new increment of resin.

Reaction injection molding

One type of network-forming thermoset, polyurethane, is molded into parts
such as automobile bumpers and inside panels through a process known as
reaction injection molding, or RIM. The two liquid precursors of a polyurethane
are a multifunctional isocyanate and a prepolymer, a low-molecular-
weight polyether or polyester bearing a multiplicity of reactive end-groups
such as hydroxyl, amine, or amide. In the presence of a catalyst such as a
tin soap, the two reactants rapidly form a network joined mainly by urethane
groups. The reaction takes place so rapidly that the two precursors have to be
combined in a special mixing head and immediately introduced into the mold.

Blow molding
The popularity of thermoplastic containers for products previously marketed in
glass is due in no small part to the development of blow molding. In this
technique, a thermoplastic hollow tube, the parison, is formed by injection
molding or extrusion. In heated form, the tube is sealed at one end and then
blown up like a balloon. The expansion is carried out in a split mold with a cold
surface; as the thermoplastic encounters the surface, it cools and becomes
dimensionally stable. The parison itself can be programmed as it is formed with
varying wall thickness along its length, so that, when it is expanded in the
mold, the final wall thickness will be controlled at corners and other critical
locations. In the process of expansion both in diameter and length (stretch
blow molding), the polymer is biaxially oriented, resulting in enhanced strength
and, in the case of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) particularly, enhanced
crystallinity.

Casting and dipping

Not every forming process requires high pressures. If the material to be
molded is already a stable liquid, simply pouring (casting) the liquid into a mold
may suffice. Since the mold need not be massive, even the cyclical heating and
cooling for a thermoplastic is efficiently done.

One example of a cast thermoplastic is a suspension of finely divided, low-

porosity PVC particles in a plasticizer such as dioctyl phthalate (DOP). This
suspension forms a free-flowing liquid (a plastisol) that is stable for months.
However, if the suspension (for instance, 60 parts PVC and 40 parts plasticizer)
is heated to 180 °C (356 °F) for five minutes, the PVC and plasticizer will form
a homogeneous gel that will not separate into its components when cooled
back to room temperature. A very realistic insect or fishing worm can be cast
from a plastisol using inexpensive molds and a cycle requiring only minutes. In
addition, when a mold in the shape of a hand is dipped into a plastisol and
then removed, subsequent heating will produce a glove that can be stripped
from the mold after cooling.

Rotational molding
In order to make a hollow article, a split mold can be partially filled with a
plastisol or a finely divided polymer powder. Rotation of the mold while
heating converts the liquid or fuses the powder into a continuous film on the
interior surface of the mold. When the mold is cooled and opened, the hollow
part can be removed. Among the articles produced in this manner are many
toys such as balls and dolls.

Thermoforming and cold molding

When a sheet of thermoplastic is heated above its Tg or Tm, it may be capable
of forming a free, flexible membrane as long as the molecular weight is high
enough to support the stretching. In this heated state, the sheet can be pulled
by vacuum into contact with the cold surface of a mold, where it cools to
below Tg or Tm and becomes dimensionally stable in the shape of the mold.
Cups for cold drinks are formed in this way from polystyrene or PET.

Vacuum forming is only one variation of sheet thermoforming. The blow

molding of bottles described above differs from thermoforming only in that a
tube rather than a sheet is the starting form.

Foaming
Foams, also called expanded plastics, possess inherent features that make
them suitable for certain applications. For instance, the thermal conductivity of
a foam is lower than that of the solid polymer. Also, a foamed polymer is more
rigid than the solid polymer for any given weight of the material. Finally,
compressive stresses usually cause foams to collapse while absorbing much
energy, an obvious advantage in protective packaging. Properties such as these
can be tailored to fit various applications by the choice of polymer and by the
manner of foam formation or fabrication. The largest markets for foamed
plastics are in home insulation (polystyrene, polyurethane, phenol
formaldehyde) and in packaging, including various disposable food and drink
containers

Foamed thermoplastics
Polystyrene pellets can be impregnated with isopentane at room temperature
and modest pressure. When the pellets are heated, they can be made to fuse
together at the same time that the isopentane evaporates, foaming the
polystyrene and cooling the assembly at the same time. Usually the pellets are
prefoamed to some extent before being put into a mold to form a cup or some
form of rigid packaging. The isopentane-impregnated pellets may also be
heated under pressure and extruded, in which case a continuous sheet of
foamed polystyrene is obtained that can be shaped into packaging, dishes, or
egg cartons while it is still warm.

Finishing
Joining
Some plastics can be joined by welding, in the same manner as metals—PVC
and polyethylene tanks and ductwork being prime examples. More commonly,
surfaces are joined by being brought into contact with one another
and heated by conduction or by dielectric heating. Heat sealing of bags made
from tubes of blow-extruded polyolefins such as polyethylene and
polypropylene usually requires contact with a hot sealing bar. PVC has a high
enough dielectric loss that heat can be generated throughout the material by
exposure to a high-frequency, high-voltage electric field.

Machining
Rigid thermoplastics and thermosets can be machined by conventional
processes such as drilling, sawing, turning on a lathe, sanding, and other
operations. Glass-reinforced thermosets are machined into gears, pulleys, and
other shapes, especially when the number of parts does not
justify construction of a metal mold. Various forms can be stamped out (die-
cut) from sheets of thermoplastics and thermosets. The cups made by vacuum
forming, for instance, are cut out of the mother sheet using a sharp die. In the
case of a thermoplastic such as polystyrene, the scrap sheet left over can be
reground and remolded.

Coating
Although colour may be added in the form of a pigment or dye throughout a
plastic article, there are many applications where a surface coating is valuable
for protective or decorative purposes. The automobile bumpers produced by
reaction injection molding can be painted to match the rest of the body. It is
important in applying coatings to plastics that the solvent used does not cause
swelling of the underlying substrate. For this reason, latex dispersion paints
have found favour, although surface treatment is necessary to provide good
bonding with these materials.

Fibre reinforcement
The term polymer-matrix composite is applied to a number of plastic-based
materials in which several phases are present. It is often used to describe
systems in which a continuous phase (the matrix) is polymeric and another
phase (the reinforcement) has at least one long dimension. The major classes
of composites include those made up of discrete layers (sandwich laminates)
and those reinforced by fibrous mats, woven cloth, or long, continuous
filaments of glass or other materials.

Sandwich laminates
Plywood is a form of sandwich construction of natural wood fibres with
plastics. The layers are easily distinguished and are both held together and
impregnated with a thermosetting resin, usually urea formaldehyde. A
decorative laminate can consist of a half-dozen layers of fibrous kraft paper
(similar to paper used for grocery bags) together with a surface layer of paper
with a printed design—the entire assembly being impregnated with
a melamine-formaldehyde resin. For both plywood and the paper laminate,
the cross-linking reaction is carried out with sheets of the material pressed and
heated in large laminating presses.

What Are the Different Types of Plastic

Take a walk through your house or office and you’re guaranteed to stumble
across a variety of plastic products like water bottles and pens. No material is
more commonly used in our everyday lives! It’s easy to classify everything as
simply “plastic.” However, there are seven different types you should know
about.
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET)

Introduced by J. Rex Whinfield and James T. Dickson in 1940, this plastic is one
of the most commonly used on the planet. Interestingly enough, it took
another 30 years before it was used for crystal-clear beverage bottles, such as
the ones produced by Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

PETE plastics make up 96% of all plastic bottles and containers in the United
States, yet only 25% of these products are recycled. By being mindful and
making sure to recycle code 1 plastics, you’re helping to ensure a cleaner
environment and less landfill pollution!

High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)

In 1953, Karl Ziegler and Erhard Holzkamp used catalysts and low pressure to
create high-density polyethylene. It was first used for pipes in storm sewers,
drains, and culverts. Today, this plastic is used for a wide variety of products.

HDPE is the most commonly recycled plastic because it will not break under
exposure to extreme heat or cold. According to the EPA, 12% of all HDPE
products created are recycled in a year. This is a very small dent in the planet’s
carbon footprint.

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

PVC is one of the oldest synthetic materials in industrial production. It was

actually discovered on accident twice; once in 1838 by French physicist Henri
Victor Regnault and again in 1872 by German chemist Eugen Baumann. On
both occasions, these men found it inside vinyl chloride flasks left exposed to
sunlight.

PVC is one of the least recycled materials; generally less than 1% of PVC plastic
is recycled each year. It has been called the "poison plastic" because it contains
numerous toxins and is harmful to our health and the environment.
Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE)

LDPE was the first polyethylene to be produced, making it the godfather of the
material. It has less mass than HDPE, which is why it’s considered a separate
material for recycling.

Packaging and containers made from LDPE make up about 56% of all plastic
waste, 75% of which comes from residential households. Fortunately, many
recycling programs are evolving to handle these products. This means less
LDPE will end up in landfills and negatively affect the environment!

Polypropylene (PP)

J. Paul Hogan and Robert L. Banks of Phillips Petroleum Company discovered

polypropylene in 1951. At the time, they were simply trying to convert
propylene into gasoline, but instead discovered a new catalytic process for
making plastic.

Only about 3% of polypropylene products are recycled in the US, but

interestingly enough, 325 million pounds of non-bottle plastics were collected
for recycling over a year. In other words, a lot of this plastic is created, but only
a small fraction is actually recycled.

Polystyrene or Styrofoam (PS)

In 1839, German apothecary Eduard Simon accidentally came across

polystyrene while preparing medication. He isolated a substance from natural
resin and didn’t realize what he had discovered. It took German chemist
Hermann Staudinger to research this polymer and expand on its uses.

Since polystyrene is lightweight and easy to form into plastic materials, it also
breaks effortlessly, making it more harmful to the environment. Beaches all
over the world are littered with pieces of polystyrene, endangering the health
of marine animals. Polystyrene accounts for about 35% of US landfill materials.

Miscellaneous Plastics

The remaining plastics include: polycarbonate, polylactide, acrylic, acrylonitrile

butadiene, styrene, fiberglass, and nylon. Of course, there are many
differences in the plastics classified as miscellaneous by recycling programs.