Characterization of Plastics and Polymers: A Comprehensive Study

Abstract

Since the beginning of polymer synthesis, a huge modification and development have taken place in this field which resulted in a world where people cannot think of a single day without a polymer product. They are light in weight, affordable and have the potential to provide a similar strength like the traditional metallic objects. As the demand for polymer products is increasing rapidly, its characterization and evaluation of mechanical properties become essential for making a reliable, scientific and cost-effective product design. Recently the incorporation of biopolymers in the global market has made this industry more attractive to consumers and government bodies. But the main challenge lies in its characterization as plastics and polymers found in nature or synthesized artificially have a wide range of physical and chemical properties. So, a particular set of instruments that can evaluate the properties of a group of polymers, may not be usable for a different group with the same accuracy and technique. Researchers are working incessantly to find out effective methods for this purpose and many of them are successful in finding some crucial properties of polymers like strength, elastic modulus, viscosity, hardness etc. The present work briefly discusses the superiority of polymer materials and the research work that has been carried out so far for the characterization of the same. Study on the biopolymer, its characterization and necessity in the context of environmental sustainability are also included in this literature.