Difference between Natural and Synthetic Polymers?

 Comparison between Natural and Synthetic Polymers. 

Natural polymers:

These are the polymers which are isolated from natural materials. These are also known biological polymers.

Examples of natural polymers are rubber, wool, cellulose, starch and proteins.

Disadvantages of Natural polymers

They have the following two disadvantages:

a) Their physical properties are fixed by the nature the particular material and cannot normally be varied.

b) The supplies are limited by agricultural considerations, and thus the materials are often expensive and subject to rapid fluctuations in price.

 

Synthetic polymers:

These are the polymers which are synthesized from low molecular weight compounds.

Examples of Synthetic Polymers

Examples are polyethylene. PVC and nylon. These are manufactured from cheap and readily available petroleum fractions, and the physical properties may be “tailor made” for almost any desired application. When we talk about polymers, conventionally it means synthetic or man made polymers.

The first purely Synthetic polymers are formaldehyde family discovered by Baekeland

Classification of Synthetic Polymers

Synthetic polymers are mainly of two types:

a) Linear polymer: It is one in which the repeating units are similar to the links in a very long chain.

b) Branched polymer: It is one in which some of the molecules are attached as side chains to the linear chains. The branching may be random, irregular or regular.

 

 

See Also,

Uses of Polymers, application of polymers