Investigation topic 2: Producing and using ‘greener’ polymers
Both natural and synthetic polymers play an important role in everyday life. The cells in animals and plants are built of, and metabolise, natural polymers. Proteins and carbohydrates in our food are both polymers. Synthetic polymers are used for a myriad of purposes in everyday life but may present challenges in terms of the by-products resulting from their manufacture or breakdown, and their persistence in the environment. The sustainability of polymers can be considered in terms of whether these plastics can be avoided by using different products or activities, reduced through design, or replaced by different materials.
Questions that may be explored in this investigation include:
· What impact does the vulcanisation of rubber have on the environment and the communities where rubber is sourced and produced?
Overview
Akron Global Polymer Academy at UA. (2014). A Brief History of Rubber [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHhD6YhsGk0
Vulcanisation
Ekeeda. (2019). Vulcanizing Agents - Polymers - Engineering Chemistry 1 [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80yMmUy9VRM
Production of rubber
Channel, S. (2013). Natural Rubber | How It’s Made [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUg7r7fu_eo
OneMonroe. (2021). What Is Vulcanized Rubber - Monroe Engineering [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_AM9ycT98k
Rubber sourcing
WHAT COUNTRIES PRODUCE THE MOST RUBBER?
Custom Rubber Corp. (2019). Custom Rubber Corp. Customrubbercorp.com. https://www.customrubbercorp.com/blog/May-22/What-Countries-Produce-the-Most-Rubber
Concept Paper - Digitization of NR Supply Chain for Singapore. (2020). Rubberstudy.org. https://www.rubberstudy.org/content/22582
Synthetic rubber
Making the production of rubber better for the planet. (2016). World Wildlife Fund. https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/winter-2016/articles/making-the-production-of-rubber-better-for-the-planet
The Development of Synthetic Rubber and its Significance in World War II World War II
Provost, N. (2022b). The Development of Synthetic Rubber and its Significance in World War II. History in the Making, 15. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1262&context=history-in-the-making
Rubber and the environment
Transforming the global rubber market
Transforming the global rubber market | Projects | WWF. (2016). World Wildlife Fund. https://www.worldwildlife.org/projects/transforming-the-global-rubber-market
Environmental Problems Related to Natural Rubber Production in Thailand
Engineered microbe excels at ‘breathing rubber,’ could curb reliance on petroleum
https://www.facebook.com/NebraskaToday. (2021, March 18). Engineered microbe excels at “breathing rubber,” could curb reliance on petroleum. Unl.edu. https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/engineered-microbe-excels-at-breathing-rubber-could-curb-reliance-on/
