Acrylic
From Open Source Ecology
Basics
- A Common thermoplastic
- Also known as:
- Poly(methyl methacrylate)
- PMMA
- acrylic glass
- plexiglass
- the trade names Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, Astariglas, Lucite, Perclax, and Perspex
- Is often clear
- Is also a waste product from some sites (offcuts from laser cutters etc)
- Can also be made into a Bubblegram which only it, and glass can do
- VERY easy to work with:
- Can be laser cut if in sheet form
- Melts ~160 °C near PLA and ABS
- Doesn'thave the hydrolysis issues of PET
- Altogether GREAT material
- It is a plastic, but supposedly some organisms may be evolving to break it down:
- From wikipedia:
- The Futuro house was made of fibreglass-reinforced polyester plastic, polyester-polyurethane, and poly(methylmethacrylate); one of them was found to be degrading by cyanobacteria and Archaea
Sourcing
Notes
- You can get 1/32" polycarbonate, 4x8 sheets, at about $70. This is about $2/sf. Would need appropriate structural support, but otherwise it's pretty much indestructible.
Production
- Varying methods
- The main route seems to be Methyl methacrylate + A Polymerization Catalyst such as methyl ethyl ketone peroxide (MEKP)
- This is mainly done for "casting" the artificial "resin", but could perhaps be done in a reactor for producing solid string-ey product, for further refining into FDM Filament or Plastic Pellets
- The "easiest" to do seems to be the various "Methyl propionate routes"
- Uses carboalkoxylation of ethylene to produce methyl propionate (MeP)
- Followed by the MeP being condensed with formaldehyde in a single heterogeneous reaction step to form MMA
- So needs:
Internal Links
External Links
