Buying The Right Monomers For Your Production Needs

Posted on: 18 September 2019

In today's plastics industry, monomers are essential to the production of the products we use every day. The types of monomers vary widely and the way they are used is different from one to another. Getting the right monomer for your production needs means understanding the chemical and atomical properties you need.

Monomers as a Base

Most plastics start with an atomic building block known as a monomer. Monomers are molecules that are designed to interlink with other monomers to create polymers and copolymers that are then used in plastics. The monomers are carefully engineered to join with other monomers much like snapping interlocking blocks together.

When the monomers are joined, the two molecules form a stronger polymer and with enough monomers strung together in the right way, a chain is formed that is the base for many different plastics.

Custom Monomers and Polymers

A lab creating monomers and polymers can often structure the molecular chain to alter the properties of the molecules and create a plastic that has the properties you need. If you need strength, flexibility, or durability, the lab creating the monomers can alter them to meet those needs. 

The lab you choose to work with should be able to meet the needs of your monomer product, but you need to be clear what those needs are. Engineering at a molecular level takes a lot of time and a specific skill set to get right. The monomer may need altering as the process begins so understand that if you are buying engineered monomers or polymers, there is an expected level of testing and perfecting the product. 

Where to Buy Monomers

Monomers are not an off-the-shelf product, although there are labs that have some standard monomers available. You will need to contact a lab that specializes in the creation of monomers, polymers, and copolymers to get the product you need. Combining these monomers to create the base for your plastics is the next step after you source the right monomer and can be done in-house or through the lab, you are working with. 

If you have a lab capable of working with the molecules to link them, then you only need the base monomer but most of these labs can take the monomer and produce the final product you need with it. Talk to the monomer manufacturer about what they offer and how they can help you to get from that first molecule to that final plastic product sitting on the shelf of the big box store down the road.

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