Polypropylene is known by many different names, such as Propene polymers, Polypropene 25, Polypropene, Propylene polymers or 1-Propene. It's molecular formula is (C3H6)n and it has a density of .855 g/cm3 when amorphous and .946 g/cm3 in crystalline form.
It is a thermoplastic polymer that is typically quite tough while retaining flexibility --- especially so when it's copolymerized with something like ethylene. Many of the commercially available polypropylene powder products are isotactic with a mid-range level of petroleum coke density.
This allows for polypropylene products to be used for a wide range of industries and products and to compete with materials such as ABS. It has a decent resistance to fatigue and is actually quite economical. It can be made translucent but not as easily made transparent as other materials such as polystyrene or acrylic, therefore it's typically opaque or colored by using certain pigments.
Polypropylene comes in three main varieties. These are homopolymer, block copolymer and a random copolymer. Polypropylene homopolymer pp typically has ethylene-propylene rubber added to it to increase its impact strength at low temperatures.
Giulio Natta and Karl Regn where the first to polymerize a crystalline isotactic polymer of the substance back in 1954. Quickly, large-scale commercial production of polypropylene powder by Montecatini (an Italian company) began in 1957. Since then, production of polypropylene has not been able to keep up with the demand.
Polypropylene powder is used in many of the products we use today, even though we may not know it! More on this amazing polymer to come in future blog posts!
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