Materials and corrosion

• Properties of polymers


  • Low density - soft
  • High density - hard
• Uses of metals

  • Jewellery (Gold)
  • Electric wiring (Copper)
  • Packaging (Aluminium)
• Thermosetting polymers


  Polymers that do not melt when heated - covalently bonded together
• Composite materials

  Materials made from two or more different materials with different properties to produce a material with improved properties
• Methods of preventing corrosion

  • Physical barriers/surface coating
  • Painting, oiling & greasing
  • Sacrificial protection
  • Galvanising
• Corrosion is the process of a metal continuing to oxidise, meaning it becomes weaker over time and may become a metal oxide
• Rusting is a type of corrosion where a metal reacts with water and oxygen in the air to form iron oxide
• Thermosoftening polymers 


  Polymers that melt when heated - not bonded together