What is Acrylic (Plexiglass)

Nowadays, acrylic is used in applications for the advantages of its natural transparency and impact resistant structure. Common uses include lenses, acrylic nails, paint, safety barriers, medical devices, LCD screens and furniture. Due to its clarity, it can also be used around windows, tanks and presentation environments. Acrylic (PMMA) is a transparent thermoplastic, commonly referred to in the trade as plexi. Thermoplastics are materials that soften when heated and harden again when cooled. It is similar to another alternative to glass, impact resistant polycarbonate. It was first produced in 1928 and was put on the market 5 years later. It is a transparent material with the highest light transmittance (95% compared to glass) in the market. Some of its first uses were in the periscopes of submarines and airplane windows in the second world war. It is preferred because it causes much less damage to the pilots than glass pieces at the time of breaking in aircraft. Plexiglass can be produced in many different colors and light transmittance. As the color produced gets darker, the light transmittance also decreases. While the white color has a high light transmittance, this value decreases to the minimum in the black color. In its raw form, it is almost as clear as glass and has light transmittance, which is why it is the most ideal alternative for glass. In addition, it does not contain bisphenol-A (BPA) and similar harmful substances as in polycarbonate.