Difference Between Polystyrene and Styrofoam

Thekey difference在聚苯乙烯和泡沫聚苯乙烯之间是polystyrene is a form of syntheticaromatic hydrocarbonpolymerwhereas the styrofoam is a commercial brand of polystyrene.

聚苯乙烯是一种聚合物材料。它是由苯乙烯单体的聚合形成的。因此，它可以作为固体或泡沫可用，并且很常见，因为它价格便宜。Styrofoam是聚苯乙烯的商标品牌。

CONTENTS

1.Overview and Key Difference
2.What is Polystyrene
3.What is Styrofoam
4.Side by Side Comparison – Polystyrene vs Styrofoam in Tabular Form
5.概括

What is Polystyrene?

聚苯乙烯is a synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer. We can produce this polymer from the monomer styrene. It is available in two forms as a solid form or as foam. This material is clear, hard, and rather brittle. Moreover, it is inexpensive when considering a unit weight. However, it is a poor barrier to oxygen and water vapor.

This polymer has a low melting point comparatively. It is transparent, and we can color this resin with colorants. It is a thermoplastic polymer. At room temperature, it is in the solid state. But if we heat this polymer above 100 °C, the material flows. Therefore, it is the玻璃过渡温度这材料。但是，当我们冷却后，它变得僵硬。

The biodegradation of this polymer is very slow. Since it is common as a liter in the environment, we should reduce the use of polystyrene. The chemical formula of this compound is (C₈H₈)_n,and the melting point is 240 °C. When considering the chemical structure of this material, it has a long chain hydrocarbon with an alternating pattern of phenyl groups attached to the carbon chain.

What is Styrofoam?

Styrofoam是聚苯乙烯的商标品牌。It falls under the category of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS). This material has a light blue color. The owner of this brand is The Dow Chemical Company. Styrofoam contains about 98% air; this makes it lightweight and buoyant.

When considering the uses of this material, it has many applications as a building material, in building insulation sheathing and pipe insulation. Moreover, we can use this material under roads and other structures to prevent soil disturbances due to freezing. Apart from that, we can use this material structural insulated panels; these are used by florists in craft products.

What is the Difference Between Polystyrene and Styrofoam?

聚苯乙烯is a synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer whereas Styrofoam is a trademark brand of polystyrene. This makes the difference between polystyrene and Styrofoam. Polystyrene appears transparent. But various forms of polystyrene have different colors because of adding colorants. For example, Styrofoam has a light blue color.

此外，聚苯乙烯和泡沫聚苯乙烯之间的另一个区别是，聚苯乙烯可以作为固体产品和泡沫产品可用，但是该泡沫塑料仅作为泡沫产品可用。聚苯乙烯和泡沫聚苯乙烯在其用途中也存在差异。泡沫聚苯乙烯主要作为建筑物和道路中的绝缘材料制造。

概括– Polystyrene vs Styrofoam

聚苯乙烯is a common polymer material produces from the monomer, styrene. Styrofoam is a form of polystyrene. The key difference between polystyrene and Styrofoam is that the polystyrene is a form of synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer whereas the Styrofoam is a commercial brand of polystyrene.

Reference:

1.“聚苯乙烯。”。Wikipedia，Wikimedia Foundation，2018年8月29日。Available here

Image Courtesy:

1.”Expanded polystyrene foam dunnage”By User:Acdx – Own work,(CC BY-SA 3.0)viaCommons Wikimedia
2.”Styrofoam Insulation”ByJowens89(CC0)viaCommons Wikimedia