Disclaimer: This document provides guidance and is not a legally binding interpretation and shall therefore not be relied upon as legal advice.
Disclaimer: This document provides guidance and is not a legally binding interpretation and shall therefore not be relied upon as legal advice.
Plastics and rubber materials are both made from the same families of polymers.
The polymers are mixed with a complex blend of materials known as additives.
Rubbers are elastomers, these are polymers with an elastic property. This elasticity differentiates rubbers from plastics. Elastic means that the material can be stretched and, when released, returns to within at least 90% of its original dimensions and shape within a period of time, at room temperature.
The word polymer comes from the Greek words for "many (poly) parts (-mer)"; monomer means "one part".
Polymers are large molecules that consist of a series of smaller building blocks. Those building blocks are called monomers. Think of a polymer as a chain of monomers linked to each other. The monomers can be simple or they might be more complicated ring-shaped structures containing a dozen or more chemical elements (atoms).
For example, the polymer PVC (polyvinylchloride) is a very long chain of vinylchloride monomers which explains the name poly-vinylchloride: many vinyl-chlorides. The building block monomer is made of two carbon (C) atoms, three hydrogen (H) atoms and one chlorine (Cl) atom, as shown in the diagram above.
Some examples of commonly used polymers and their possible applications are:
Without additives, plastics and rubbers would not work, but with them they can be made safer, cleaner, tougher and more colourful.
The polymers themselves often do not have any desired properties when they are manufactured. Therefore, polymer materials are blended with certain chemicals called additives to create the desired properties in the final plastic or rubber products. Additives are used to make plastic products suitable for specific situations or applications. Examples of additional properties are stiffness or flexibility, UV-resistance, water repellant, flame resistant etc.
During the production of plastics or rubbers a significant amount of additives is mixed with the polymers.
This mixing process of polymers with additives is known as "plastic" or "rubber" compounding.
The percentage of additives in polymer based products depends on the required properties but it can easily be more than 50% of the end product.
Examples of types of additives usually used for making plastics:
Monomers, polymers and additives are all chemicals. And chemicals may be hazardous or problematic for people, animals and the environment.
Polymers on their own may be safe and not toxic. But polymers may be made from monomers which are often toxic and subject to chemical legislation. During the manufacturing process a 100% conversion of monomer into polymers (polymerisation) is not feasible. This means that the polymer contains a certain amount monomers residues and the hazardous properties of the monomer are then also present in the polymer.
The same is true for additives, these are chemicals that may be hazardous and therefore they are regulated by chemical legislation. Monomers as well as additives in final products may lead to exposure for people and the environment.
For compliance it is essential to know the composition or blend of your materials. Which building blocks, monomers are used for polymerisation and what are their chemical properties. Which chemicals are used during manufacturing and which additives have been applied to give the end product the required properties.
For the chemical risk assessment of materials this is essential information from your supply chain.
Both plastic and rubber are polymers. A polymer is a macromolecule that is made out of many repeating units. Each repeating unit represents the monomer that is used to build up the polymer. Some polymers are synthetic whereas other polymers are naturally occurring compounds. Plastic is a synthetic polymer whereas rubber is found as a natural polymer. This is the main difference between plastic and rubber. Both these compounds are very useful in the production of different items.
1. What is Plastic
– Definition, Properties, Different Products
2. What is Rubber
– Definition, Properties, Different Products
3. What is the Difference Between Plastic and Rubber
– Comparison of Key Differences
Key Term: Monomer, Natural Rubber, Plastic, Polymer, Rubber, Synthetic Polymer, Synthetic Rubber
Plastic is a polymer material that has the ability to be molded and shaped by the application of heat and pressure. This property is known as plasticity. It is a synthetic polymer. The malleability of plastic allows it to be molded into different shapes.
Apart from that, the light weight of plastic is also a good reason for it to be used in the production of different equipment. Plastic has a low density, poor electrical conductivity, transparency, toughness, etc. Plastics are very stable with a slower rate of degradation.
There is a wide variety of plastic polymers. These plastics can be categorized according to several different parameters. We can classify plastics according to chemical properties, physical properties, chemical structure, method of synthesis, etc.
Some commercially important plastics include polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PET, PTEF, etc. In the production processes of these plastic varieties, some chemicals are added to the reactions mixtures. These chemical compounds include stabilizers (to give a long shelf life to the polymer), fillers (to improve performance), plasticizer (to improve rheology), etc. Sometimes, colorants are also added in order to obtain eye-catching colors in the end product. These externally added compounds are called additives.
There are many applications of plastics in almost all fields including medicine, textile industry, food and beverages (as packaging material).
Rubber is an elastic material that is either obtained from rubber plants or synthesized using petroleum oil. Therefore, there are two types of rubber as natural rubber and synthetic rubber. Rubber is very famous in industries due to its elasticity, toughness, etc. Rubber is used for the production of many different products.
Natural rubber consists of polymers of isoprene and water along with some other compounds. The major component of natural rubber is polyisoprene. It is the polymer material (elastomer) present in natural rubber. Natural rubber is obtained from rubber tree latex. This latex is milky and sticky. It is a suspension. This latex can be obtained from the parts near the bark of the tree.
Natural rubber is susceptible to vulcanization due to the presence of a double bond in the backbone of the polymer. Vulcanization is the process of forming crosslinks between polymer chains using sulfur as the crosslinking reagent. The vulcanized rubber is more stiff, rigid and durable than that of natural rubber.
Synthetic rubber is produced from petroleum oil or natural gases. Synthetic rubbers are made in chemical plants using petrochemicals as their starting point. For example, the reaction of acetylene and hydrochloric acid gives polychloroprene, a type of synthetic rubber.
There is a wide variety of products obtained from rubber. Some examples include shoes, vehicle tires, waterproof clothes, balloons, protective gloves, and many other things.
Plastic: Plastic is a polymer material that has the ability to be molded and shaped by the application of heat and pressure.
Rubber: Rubber is an elastic material that is either obtained from rubber plants or synthesized using petroleum oil.
Plastic: Plastic has plasticity.
Rubber: Rubber has elasticity.
Plastic: Plastic is obtained from industrial methods.
Rubber: Rubber can be obtained from both industrial methods and from natural sources.
Plastic: Plastic is produced by taking crude oil as the starting material.
Rubber: Rubber is naturally produced in rubber trees as rubber latex or can be produced industrially from petroleum oil and natural gases.
Plastic: Plastic is less toxic.
Rubber: Rubber is more toxic.
Plastic and rubber are used in the manufacturing of a variety of products that we need in our daily life. Both these compounds are polymer materials. They have unique properties depending on their chemical structures. The main difference between plastic and rubber is that plastic is essentially a synthetic polymer whereas rubber can be found as a natural polymer or can be produced as a synthetic polymer.
1. Gent, Alan N. “Rubber.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 23 May 2016, Available here.
2. “Natural rubber.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Oct. 2017, Available here.
3. “Plastic.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 27 June 2017, Available here.
1. “528789” (Public Domain) via Pixabay
2. “Cis Polyisoprene, Natural rubber” By Prabhachatterji at Malayalam Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
3. “350095” (Public Domain) via Pixabay
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