Prospects of chemical production
Modern industry needs materials with high strength and resistance to heat and aggressive media, and natural materials cannot fully meet this need. The chemical industry creates such new materials: polymers (plastics, synthetic fibres, synthetic rubbers), ceramics, composites (a material made of a matrix and a filler), paints and synthetic detergents. In agriculture chemistry raises yields with mineral fertilisers, plant-protection products, soil improvement and water purification; in medicine it provides new drugs, medical equipment and methods of analysis. Because natural resources (ores, oil, gas, coal) run out, raw materials must be processed completely: for example, from natural gas rich in hydrogen sulfide, sulfur is obtained along with fuel and poisonous SO₂ does not enter the air. In waste-free technology the waste of one production becomes the raw material of another (for example, building bricks from power-station slag). A chemist today must think about safety and the environment together with the new product.
List 10 objects at home (dishes, packaging, clothes, toys…) and write what material they are made of (metal, glass, polymer, ceramic, composite) and why that material was chosen. Do not burn plastic waste or throw it into water: sort it and hand it in for recycling.