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Glite Dictionary
🧪 Making flexible 🔄 Permanent deformation
plasticization

plasticization

7.9
Making plastic softer so it can bend or be shaped
  • noun
  • /ˌplæstɪsɪˈzeɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : plasticización
  • Through the process of plasticization, the material became much more flexible and easier to handle.

Examples

  • The plasticization of the polymer allowed it to be molded into complex shapes.

  • After undergoing plasticization, the once rigid compound could now be easily shaped for various applications.

  • Plasticization is one of the most commonly used techniques for the manufacture of polymeric materials (Allcock & Lampe, 1990).

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

softening
vsplasticization
8 2.7

The process of becoming softer or less firm

refers to that change caused by additives or heat in polymer materials

Antonyms

hardening
1 4.6

A change in a material when it becomes more solid

How Soft

melting
72 1.1
softening
8 2.7
plasticization
  • Specialized
7.9
stiffening
1 4.9
hardening
1 4.6

Surface Forms

plasticization singular
plasticizations plural

Morphology

plasticization = plasticize (transparent) = plastic + ize + ation

Forming a noun from the verb 'plasticize' with the regular nominalizing suffix '-ation' is a straightforward morphological step.

Etymology

Plasticization starts with plastic, from an old word meaning 'to shape', plus -ize and -ation, so it literally means 'making shapeable'. Think of warming clay or adding a soft oil so a plastic becomes soft and easy to bend or mold, which is why plasticization means making a material more flexible.