How is styrofoam made?

instagram viewer

Styrofoam is a plastic that has become an integral part of our lives. As a light and good insulating material, it is also often used as packaging material. But how is this substance actually created?

Styrofoam is often used as a packaging material.
Styrofoam is often used as a packaging material.

What is styrofoam

  • Most people know Styrofoam as a very light plastic that is often used as packaging material or for insulation. But this material is also popular for handicrafts or as protective material in helmets or child seats.
  • Styrofoam also protects against water. Due to its closed porosity, this material cannot absorb water. Therefore, the fine variant is also used for insulation in house construction.
  • This substance is very resistant to alkalis and acids. Only most organic solvents attack this substance heavily. A few milliliters of acetone can dissolve a significantly larger volume of this substance.
  • In the chemistry this compound is also called polystyrene or polystyrene. The name already suggests that Styrofoam is a polymer, i.e. consists of small chemical units that are constantly repeated. The abbreviation for this connection is PS.
  • Styrofoam is a special variant of polystyrene. The special properties mentioned above are created by many small gas inclusions between the long, chain-shaped polystyrene strands.
    • Styrofoam processing - this is how it works

    One of the best-known foams is a plastic called Styrofoam. …

  • When viewed chemically, an element of a PS chain consists of two carbon atoms linked by a single bond. A subgroup represents a phenyl group. The remaining three free positions are occupied by hydrogen atoms.

How horsepower is created

  • Styrene is an ethene molecule with a phenyl group as a remainder. During the polymerization, the double bond to a neighboring styrene flips over and a polymer is created in a chain reaction. Initiators or light or heat can set this reaction in motion.
  • If pentane is used as a solvent during production, individual molecules become trapped between the polymer chains. This is the basis for styrofoam. However, this is still a fairly solid, white and dense substrate.
  • Styrofoam is created when the styrofoam containing pentane is exposed to heat in the form of water vapor. This causes the pentane to evaporate and expand the styrofoam. Often this process, prefoaming, in order to obtain approximately the desired density, and foaming, in order to bring the fabric into the desired shape.

How helpful do you find this article?

click fraud protection