Tag: plastic

Most of the commonly used household electronics like freezers, washing machine, etc are made of plastic since it is the bad conductor of electricity.

Thermosetting polymers: These polymers are cross linked or heavily branched molecules, which on heating undergo extensive cross linking in moulds and again become infusible. These cannot be reused. Some common examples are polysiloxanes, bakelite, urea- formaldehyde resins, etc.

Thermosetting plastic consists of chain of the  molecules which are cross-linked, with each other when heated. When thermosetting plastics cross-link, the molecules create a permanant, network  which is a $3-D$ structure and can be considered one giant molecule. Once cured, thermosetting plastic cn not be remelted, in the same way that cured concrete cannot be reset. 

Garden chairs made of plastic strips and plastic articles get faded, worn out and cracked in sunlight, mainly because of UV rays. All types of UV can cause a photochemical effect within the polymer which can lead to degradation of some sort to the materials. Absorbed UV energy can exits the photon in a plastic, exciting the photons can create free radicals. Those free radicals can cause breaks in the polymer bonds.

Thermosetting polymers have different properties to thermosoftening polymers. Once moulded, they do not soften when heated and they cannot be reshaped. Vulcanised rubber is a thermoset used to make tyres. Its polymer chains are joined together by cross-links, so they cannot slide past each other easily.