Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a poor barrier to air and water vapor and has a relatively low melting point. Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, with the scale of its production being several million tonnes per year. Polystyrene is naturally transparent, but can be colored with colorants. Uses include protective packaging, containers, lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, disposable cutlery, in the making of models, and as an alternative material for phonograph records.
BASF SE, an initialism of its original name Badische Anilin- und Sodafabrik, is a European multinational company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters are located in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., a publicly traded holding company incorporated under Delaware law.
Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily worked, molded, and thermoformed. Because of these properties, polycarbonates find many applications. Polycarbonates do not have a unique resin identification code (RIC) and are identified as "Other", 7 on the RIC list. Products made from polycarbonate can contain the precursor monomer bisphenol A (BPA).
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, known as SABIC, is a Saudi chemical manufacturing company. 70% of SABIC's shares are owned by Saudi Aramco. It is active in petrochemicals, chemicals, industrial polymers, fertilizers, and metals. It is the second largest public company in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia as listed in Tadawul.
Engineering plastics are a group of plastic materials that have better mechanical or thermal properties than the more widely used commodity plastics.
Koppers is a global chemical and materials company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, in an art-deco 1920's skyscraper called the Koppers Tower.
A plastic bottle is a bottle constructed from high-density or low density plastic. Plastic bottles are typically used to store liquids such as water, soft drinks, motor oil, cooking oil, medicine, shampoo, milk, and ink. The size ranges from very small bottles to large carboys. Consumer blow molded containers often have integral handles or are shaped to facilitate grasping.
Polymer engineering is generally an engineering field that designs, analyses, and modifies polymer materials. Polymer engineering covers aspects of the petrochemical industry, polymerization, structure and characterization of polymers, properties of polymers, compounding and processing of polymers and description of major polymers, structure property relations and applications.
SP Chemicals, a Singapore-based company, is one of the largest ion-membrane chlor-alkali producer and aniline producer in the PRC. It was listed on the Main Board of SGX-ST on 6 August 2003.
Rubber toughening is a process in which rubber nanoparticles are interspersed within a polymer matrix to increase the mechanical robustness, or toughness, of the material. By "toughening" a polymer it is meant that the ability of the polymeric substance to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracture is increased. Considering the significant advantages in mechanical properties that rubber toughening offers, most major thermoplastics are available in rubber-toughened versions; for many engineering applications, material toughness is a deciding factor in final material selection.
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptability, plus a wide range of other properties, such as being lightweight, durable, flexible, and inexpensive to produce, has led to its widespread use. Plastics typically are made through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum; however, recent industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton derivatives.
The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed certificate and prize money. The medal honors individuals for "outstanding invention, innovation, or development which has resulted in a significant change or contribution to the nature of the rubber industry". Awardees give a lecture at an ACS Rubber Division meeting, and publish a review of their work in the society's scientific journal Rubber Chemistry and Technology.
Kumho Petrochemical Co., Ltd. is a multinational chemical company based in South Korea, with headquarters in Seoul. It was founded in 1970 when Kumho Group struggled to secure raw materials for its bus and tire businesses. Kumho Petrochemical has a global market leadership in the manufacturing of synthetic rubbers with the world's largest production capacity based on SBR and BR by IISRP 2012. It focuses on synthetic rubbers, synthetic resins, specialty chemicals, electronic chemicals, energy, building materials and advanced materials as its core business.
Acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), also called acrylic styrene acrylonitrile, is an amorphous thermoplastic developed as an alternative to acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), that has improved weather resistance. It is an acrylate rubber-modified styrene acrylonitrile copolymer. It is used for general prototyping in 3D printing, where its UV resistance and mechanical properties make it an excellent material for use in fused filament fabrication printers, particularly for outdoor applications. ASA is also widely used in the automotive industry.
Plastic colorants are chemical compounds used to color plastic. Those compounds come in a form of dyes and pigments. The type of a colorant is chosen based on the type of a polymeric resin, that needs to be colored. Dyes are usually used with polycarbonates, polystyrene and acrylic polymers. Pigments are better suited for use with polyolefins.
Christopher Daniel Pappas is a special advisor to the CEO of Trinseo S.A., a Berwyn-based global materials company that manufactures plastics, latex, and synthetic rubber, among others. Pappas previously served as the company's president and chief executive officer, beginning in June 2010 when the Dow Chemical Company sold a group of its businesses and assets to Bain Capital under the name Styron. Pappas retired from the position of CEO as of March 4, 2019.
Sylvia Marie Stoesser, was an American chemist. She was the first woman to be employed as a chemist at Dow Chemical Company. During her time at Dow, she made a number of major contributions, holding more than two dozen patents as a result of her research.
The 2023 Delaware River chemical spill was a failure of equipment that occurred on March 24, 2023 at the Trinseo Altuglas chemical plant in Bristol, Pennsylvania in the United States, which resulted in a leak of between 8,100 and 12,000 gallons of butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, and methyl methacrylate into Otter Creek, a tributary of the Delaware River.
