Technical Glossary

Acrylic:

The term "acrylic" is used for products that contain a substance derived from acrylic acid or a related compound. Most often, it is used to describe a clear, glass-like plastic known as poly(methyl) methacrylate (PMMA). PMMA, also called acrylic glass, has properties that make it a better choice for many products that might otherwise be made of glass. There are two basic types: extruded and cast.

Acrylic resins:

Acrylic resins are a group of related thermoplastic or thermosetting plastic substances derived from acrylic acid, methacrylic acid or other related compounds.^[1]Polymethyl acrylate is an acrylic resin used in an emulsed form for lacquer, textile finishes, adhesives and, mixed with clay, to gloss paper. Another acrylic resin ispolymethyl methacrylate which is used to make hard plastics with various light transmitting properties.

Enamel:

Enamel paint is paint that air dries to a hard, usually glossy, finish, used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or otherwise subject to hard wear or variations in temperature; it should not be confused with decorated objects in "painted enamel", wherevitreous enamel is applied with brushes and fired in a kiln.

Catalysis:

Catalysis is the increase in the rate of a chemical reaction of two or more reactants due to the participation of an additional substance called a catalyst.^[1] Unlike other reagents in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction. 

Viscosity:

The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to gradual deformation by shear stress or tensile stress

Pigment:

A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.

Polymer:

A polymeris a large molecule, or macromolecule, composed of many repeated subunits, known as monomers.