differentiate between thermoplastics and thermosets
Answers
Answer:
The primary difference between the two is that Thermoset is a material that strengthens when heated, but cannot be remolded or heated after the initial forming, while thermoplastics can be reheated, remolded, and cooled as necessary without causing any chemical changes.
Answer:
Thermoplastics:
A thermoplastic is a material, usually a plastic polymer, which becomes more soft when heated and hard when cooled. Thermoplastic materials can be cooled and heated several times without any change in their chemical or mechanical properties. When thermoplastics are heated to their melting point, they melt to a liquid. They freeze to a glassy state when cooled below their glass transition temperature.
Thermoplastic materials have many features. Some products made from thermoplastic materials are used for electronic applications. They protect against electrostatic discharge and radio frequency interference. Thermoplastics are one of the main two types of plastics.
Thermoplastic can be moulded into any shape. Thermoplastics differ from thermosetting polymers. Thermosets form irreversible chemical bonds during the curing process.
The most produced plastics are:
Polyethylene (PE)
Polypropylene
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
Thermosets:
A thermosetting polymer, resin, or plastic, often called a thermoset, is a polymer that is irreversibly hardened by curing from a soft solid or viscous liquid prepolymer or resin.[1] Curing is induced by heat or suitable radiation and may be promoted by high pressure, or mixing with a catalyst. Heat is not necessarily to be applied externally. It is often generated by the reaction of the resin with a curing agent (catalyst, hardener). Curing results in chemical reactions that create extensive cross-linking between polymer chains to produce an infusible and insoluble polymer network.
The starting material for making thermosets is usually malleable or liquid prior to curing, and is often designed to be molded into the final shape. It may also be used as an adhesive. Once hardened, a thermoset cannot be melted for reshaping, in contrast to thermoplastic polymers which are commonly produced and distributed in form of pellets, and shaped into the final product form by melting, pressing, or injection molding.