Page 27 - Carrahers_Polymer_Chemistry,_Eighth_Edition

xxvi Polymer Nomenclature

TRADE NAMES, BRAND NAMES, AND ABBREVIATIONS

Trade (and/or brand) names and abbreviations are often used to describe a particular material or
a group of materials. They may be used to identify the product of a manufacturer, processor, or
fabricator, and may be associated with a particular product or with a material or modifi ed mate-
rial, or a material grouping. Tradenames (or trade names) are used to describe specific groups of

materials that are produced by a specific company or under license of that company. Bakelite is the

tradename given for the phenol-formaldehyde condensation developed by Baekeland. A sweater

whose contents are described as containing Orlon contains polyacrylonitrile fibers that are “pro-
tected” under the Orlon trademark and produced or licensed to be produced by the holder of the
Orlon trademark. Carina, Cobex, Dacovin, Darvic, Elvic, Geon, Koroseal, Marvinol, Mipolam,

Opalon, Pliofex, Rucon, Solvic, Trulon, Velon, Vinoflex, Vygen, and Vyram are all tradenames for
poly(vinyl chloride) manufactured by different companies. Some polymers are better known by

their tradename than their generic name. For instance, polytetrafluoroethylene is better known as

Teflon, the tradename held by Dupont.
Abbreviations, generally initials in capital letters, are also employed to describe polymers.
Table 3 contains a listing of some of the more widely used abbreviations and the polymer associated
with the abbreviation.

CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS-BASED POLYMER NOMENCLATURE
The most complete indexing of any scientific discipline is done in chemistry and is done by chemi-

cal abstracts (CA). Almost all of the modern searching tools for chemicals and chemical informa-
tion are based on CA for at least some of its information base. It is critical for polymer chemists
to have some grasp of how CA names chemical compounds. The full description of the guidelines
governing the naming of chemical compounds and related properties is given in Appendix IV at
the end of the CA Index Guide. This description is about 200 pages. While small changes are made
with each new edition, the main part has remained largely unchanged since about 1972. Today,
there are computer programs, including that associated with SciFinder Scholar, that names materi-
als once the structure is given. For small molecules this is straight forward, but for polymers care
must be taken. Experiment with simple polymers before moving to more complex macromolecules.
If the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) # is known, this can be entered and names investigated for
appropriateness for your use.

TABLE 3
Abbreviations for Selected Polymeric Materials
Abbreviation Polymer Abbreviation Polymer
ABS Acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene terpolymer CA Cellulose acetate
EP Epoxy HIPS High-impact polystyrene
MF Melamine-formaldehyde PAA Poly(acrylic acid)
PAN Polyacrylonitrile SBR Butadiene–styrene copolymer
PBT Poly(butylene terephthalate) PC Polycarbonate
PE Polyethylene PET Poly(ethylene terephthalate)
PF Phenyl-formaldehyde PMMA Poly(methyl methacrylate)
PP Polypropylene PPO Poly(phenylene oxide)
PS Polystyrene PTFE Polytetrafl uoroethylene
PU Polyurethane PVA, PVAc Poly(vinyl acetate)
PVA,PVAl Poly(vinyl alcohol) PVB Poly(vinyl butyral)
PVC Poly(vinyl chloride) SAN Styrene–acrylonitrile
UF Urea-formaldehyde

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