{"id":136,"date":"2012-11-29T03:55:50","date_gmt":"2012-11-29T03:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acrylicsheets.com.au\/?p=136"},"modified":"2020-01-19T22:05:35","modified_gmt":"2020-01-19T22:05:35","slug":"all-about-acrylic-the-untold-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acrylicsheets.com.au\/store\/all-about-acrylic-the-untold-story\/","title":{"rendered":"All about Acrylic – The Untold Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note to the reader: Chemistry not your style?<\/p>\n

It’s back to school, and we’re heading to Chemistry Class!\u00a0 Didn’t you just love<\/em> mixing those chemicals and watching a yellow and a transparent liquid combine to form a blue<\/em> compound?\u00a0 These colour changes can have practical applications; for example, they’re used in breathalyzers to detect the quantity of alcohol in one’s breath.\u00a0 On the topic of Chemistry and alcohol, you’ll recall that the chemical formula of alcohol is C2<\/sub>H5<\/sub>OH.\u00a0 And you probably still remember the easiest Organic Chemistry formula: CH4<\/sub> for methane.\u00a0 But did you ever learn about (C<\/em>5<\/sub><\/em>O<\/em>2<\/sub><\/em>H<\/em>8<\/sub><\/em>)n<\/em>?\u00a0 Now this<\/em> one’s a stumper, eh?<\/p>\n

Here’s a clue: just look around.\u00a0 Look at the windows, light fittings, a fish-bowl, drinking glasses or eyeglasses \u00d0 heck, look at your mobile-phone’s screen \u00d0 and you’re sure to see (C5<\/sub>O2<\/sub>H8<\/sub>)n.\u00a0 That’s because it’s the<\/p>\n

\"English:<\/a>
English: Skeletal formula of the polymethyl methacrylate repeating unit (Perspex, (C 5 O 2 H 8 ) n ) (Plexiglas) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

formula for acrylic<\/em>; ubiquitous, cant-do-without, acrylic.\u00a0 In the trade, acrylic is known as ‘PMMA’ which is an abbreviation of its chemical name, Polymethyl-Methacrylate.\u00a0 The ‘n’ in the chemical formula means ‘many’ and that accounts for the ‘poly’ \u00d0 ‘many’ or ‘multiple’ \u00d0 in the scientific name.\u00a0 Just C5<\/sub>O2<\/sub>H8<\/sub> is Methyl-Methacrylate or ‘MMA’.<\/p>\n

Acrylic is one of the thermoplastics and is a member of the acrylic-based resin family.\u00a0 Its mode of production and quality differ by materials and method: it is composed of one or another of two materials, and is manufactured using one or another of two methods.<\/p>\n

Acrylic is a petroleum-based polymer so its materials may be sourced directly from fossil fuels or derived from recycled acrylic.\u00a0 Fossil fuels-based production results in a superior product whereas recycled materials make for an inferior type of acrylic which can be prone to clouding, brittleness, and ageing.\u00a0 The method of production is either extrusion or casting, with the latter method producing the higher-grade acrylic.\u00a0 In extrusion, the cheaper method, liquefied acrylic is passed \u00d0 ‘extruded’ \u00d0 through rollers.\u00a0 Thus, it is pressed into sheets while it is cooling and hardening.\u00a0 Casting, on the other hand, requires semi-liquid acrylic to be put into moulds, where it is pressed and temperature-treated.\u00a0 Cast acrylic is harder, more temperature-resistant, more transparent, and simply looks<\/em> cleaner and better than most extruded acrylic.<\/p>\n

Acrylic possesses quite a striking combination of properties which make it exceedingly useful and practical for a vast variety of uses \u00d0 and then some.\u00a0 These key properties are impact- and shatter-resistance, light transmission, low weight, and slow ageing.\u00a0 Based on these criteria, an acrylic versus glass head-to-head will often result in favour of acrylic, depending on the desired usage.<\/p>\n

One of acrylic’s main selling points is its unmatched flexural strength.\u00a0 Its coefficient of rupture is 700kg\/cm2 \u00d0 that’s ten times more than the strongest glass.\u00a0 Think about it: only over 1500 pounds<\/em> of pressure exerted on an area smaller than the smallest coin<\/em> will rupture acrylic.\u00a0 It is for this reason that acrylic is preferred for windshields, aircraft windows, riot police shields, and \u00d0 of course \u00d0 bullet-proof protective enclosures.\u00a0 Even when acrylic shatters, it breaks into large pieces with blunt edges that do not hurtle at high velocity \u00d0 exactly the opposite of glass shards.<\/p>\n

Acrylic is very light-friendly.\u00a0 It transmits 92 percent of light in the visible spectrum, thereby making it an ideal choice for windows, skylights, and storefront displays \u00d0 one can enjoy a sunlit interior while being unsusceptible to most breakages.\u00a0 Unlike glass, which refracts or even reflects oblique and parallel rays, acrylic will transmit about 92 percent of transverse, oblique and<\/em> parallel rays.\u00a0 The icing on the cake is that harmful UV rays cannot pass through acrylic so you get the best of all worlds with acrylic windows.<\/p>\n

Only half as dense as glass, acrylic, consequently, also weighs about half as much as glass.\u00a0 This is a massive advantage when it comes to hoisting, and fitting or joining, large sheets.\u00a0 Large glass panes, both heavy and prone to breakage, require specialized equipment and careful handling while acrylic sheets can be handled in a more simple, straightforward manner.<\/p>\n

Acrylic sourced from fossil fuels and manufactured using the casting method has a long life \u00d0 reputable manufacturers typically provide 30-year guarantees.\u00a0 So long as it is not exposed to excessively high temperatures, i.e. over 80 degrees Centigrade (176 degrees Fahrenheit), good quality acrylic will neither cloud nor degrade in sunlight or rough weather.\u00a0 Unlike high-quality glass, acrylic is not scratch-proof; however, it is scratch resistant<\/em>.\u00a0 Specially-made chemical cleaners can ‘lift’ scratches from most acrylic products.<\/p>\n

As a consequence of these properties Acrylic is big business, so much so that one trademarked brand-name has entered the lexicon and a second has started to recur in common usage: Plexiglas and Lucite, respectively.\u00a0 Plexiglas \u00d0 frequently misspelt ‘plexiglass’ and called just ‘plexi’ \u00d0 is associated in most people’s minds with the shatter-resistant and protective properties of acrylic.\u00a0 It is a product of Rohm & Haas of Germany, now owned by Dow Corning.\u00a0 Lucite, on the other hand, is typically associated with acrylic’s decorative and visually appealing attributes.\u00a0 It is made by Lucite International which supplies the building-block for acrylic, the Methyl-Methacrylate (MMA) monomer, to other manufacturers.\u00a0 Perspex is another well-known acrylic brand.\u00a0 It is Lucite International’s budget-friendly offering.<\/p>\n

Though this article is about acrylic and not Rohm & Haas, a word about Otto Rohm is in order because . . . he’s the inventor of acrylic!\u00a0 His accidental discovery of acrylic and its properties is similarly serendipitous to that of Marie Curie’s discovery of radium and X-Rays, and 3M’s discovery of the mild, reusable adhesive that brought about Post-It Notes with their distinctive stick-unstick-restick feature.<\/p>\n

Rohm was a German acrylics chemist who wanted to create an acrylic-based adhesive that would cohere \u00d0 permanently stick together \u00d0 two panes of glass so as to make them shatterproof.\u00a0 In 1933 he succeeded in polymerizing the Methyl-Methacrylate monomer, creating PMMA or acrylic, and prepared his tri-layer ‘sandwich’.\u00a0 Unexpectedly, his ‘sandwich’ fell apart!\u00a0 The two panes of glass slid off, not having adhered to the new polymer, leaving behind a sparkling, crystal-clear pane \u00d0 the world’s first acrylic sheet!\u00a0 Three years later in 1936, Rohm perfected his technique and trademarked his product under the brand-name ‘Plexiglas’.<\/p>\n

That was waaay back in the 1930s.\u00a0 “You’ve come a long way, baby” is a phrase that springs to mind when thinking about acrylic today, for it has become the beauty queen among the resins and thermoplastics \u00d0 we may veritably accord acrylic the title ‘Miss Resin-Thermoplastic\u00d5!\u00a0 Because it can be coloured, all the way from delicate tints through to solid, opaqe colours, and can be shaped and moulded, it is used to make attractive and visually-appealing products.\u00a0 Tableware with deep rich hues and frosted wineglasses; etched, design-imprinted ice buckets and unsexy, solid-coloured soap-dishes \u00d0 they’re all made of acrylic.\u00a0 One of the latest fashions (‘Acrylic Fashions’!) has to do with photography.\u00a0 Specialty photography shops offer a service in which the photo of your choice is ‘printed within’ a premium acrylic tile or block.\u00a0 This technique results in a cutting-edge memento: a slab of ‘glass’ encasing an image that looks translucent, luminous, and three-dimensional at one and the same time!\u00a0 Thank you Mr. Rohm; thanks, acrylic!<\/p>\n

Want to hear more about acrylic and her many charms?\u00a0 Just hang around till tomorrow, mate.\u00a0 Someone will have discovered a crackling new use for acrylic by then!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note to the reader: Chemistry not your style? It’s back to school, and we’re heading to Chemistry Class!\u00a0 Didn’t you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAll about Acrylic - The Untold Story - Acrylic Sheets Brisbane | Cut to Size<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.acrylicsheets.com.au\/store\/all-about-acrylic-the-untold-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"All about Acrylic - The Untold Story - Acrylic Sheets Brisbane | Cut to Size\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Note to the reader: Chemistry not your style? 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