Plastic film

Plastic film is a thin continuous polymeric material. Thicker plastic material is often called a "sheet". These thin plastic membranes are used to separate areas or volumes, to hold items, to act as barriers, or as printable surfaces. Plastic films are used in a wide variety of applications. These include: packaging, plastic bags, labels, building construction, landscaping, electrical fabrication, photographic film, film stock for movies, video tape, etc. Almost all plastics can be formed into a thin film. Some of the primary ones are: Polyethylene – The most common plastic film is made of one of the varieties of polyethylene: low-density polyethylene, medium-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, or linear low-density polyethylene. Polypropylene – Polypropylene can be made a cast film, biaxially oriented film (BOPP), or as a uniaxially oriented film. Polyester – BoPET is a biaxially oriented polyester film. Nylon – BOPA/BON is a Biaxially Oriented Polyamide/Nylon - (Commonly known as Nylon) Polyvinyl chloride – film can be with or without a Plasticizer Cellulose acetate - an early bioplastic. Cellophane - made of regenerated cellulose. A variety of bioplastics and biodegradable plastics are available. Semiembossed film – Semiembossed film can be used as a liner to the calendered rubber to retain the properties of rubber and also to prevent dust and other foreign matters from sticking to the rubber while calendering and during storage Plastic films are usually thermoplastics and are formed by melting for forming the film. Cast – Plastics extrusion can cast film which is cooled or quenched then wound up on a roll. Extruded film can be stretched, thinned, or oriented in one or two directions. Blown or tubular process forces air into an extruded ring to expand the film. Flat tenter frames stretch the extruded film before annealing. Calender rolls can be used to form film from hot polymers Solution deposition is another film forming process.