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Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic addition polymer made from a combination of propylene monomers. Wide range of applications including consumer packaging, plastic parts for the automotive industry and textiles. Scientists Paul Hogan and Robert Banks of Philips Petroleum Company first made polypropylene in 1951, and later Italian and German scientists Natta and Rehn also made polypropylene. Natta perfected and synthesized the first commercial polypropylene in Spain in 1954, and its crystallization ability aroused great interest. By 1957, polypropylene's popularity exploded and widespread commercial production began throughout Europe. Today, it is one of the commonly used plastics in the world.
Medicine box made of PP with living hinged lid
According to reports, the current global demand for PP materials is about 45 million tons per year, and it is estimated that the demand will grow to about 62 million tons by the end of 2020. The main application of PP is the packaging industry, which accounts for about 30% of the total consumption. This is followed by electrical and equipment manufacturing, which consumes about 26%. Household appliances and the automotive industry each consume 10%. The construction industry consumes 5%.
PP has a relatively smooth surface and can replace certain other plastics, such as gears and furniture feet made of POM. The smooth surface also makes it difficult to bond PP to other surfaces, that is, PP cannot be firmly bonded with industrial glue, and sometimes welding must be used for bonding. PP also has a low density compared to other plastics, which saves weight for the user. PP has excellent resistance to organic solvents such as grease at room temperature. But PP is easy to oxidize at high temperature.
One of the main advantages of PP is its excellent processability, which can be formed by injection molding or CNC machining. For example, PP medicine box, the lid is connected to the bottle body through a living hinge. The medicine box can be directly processed by injection molding or CNC. The living hinge that connects the lid is a very thin piece of plastic that can be bent repeatedly (with an extreme range of motion close to 360 degrees) without breaking. Although the living hinge made of PP cannot bear the load, it is very suitable for the bottle cap of daily necessities.
Another advantage of PP is that it can be easily copolymerized with other polymers (such as PE) to form composite plastics. The copolymer significantly changes the properties of the material, enabling stronger engineering applications compared to pure PP.
Another immeasurable application is that PP can act as both a plastic material and a fiber material.
The above properties mean that PP can be used in a variety of applications: plates, trays, cups, tote bags, opaque plastic containers, and many toys, etc.
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