acrylonitrile
noun
ac·ry·lo·ni·trile
| \ ˌa-krə-lō-ˈnī-trəl
, -ˌtrēl\
, -ˌtrēl\
Definition of acrylonitrile
: a colorless volatile flammable liquid nitrile C3H3N used chiefly in organic synthesis and for polymerization
Examples of acrylonitrile in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One of Zoltek ZRT’s main suppliers of acrylonitrile was Belarusian firm OJSC Polymir, which was bought in December 2008 by a company called Naftan, a subsidiary of the Belarusian State Concern for Oil and Chemistry, known as Belneftekhim. — Samuel Rubenfeld, WSJ, "Carbon-Fiber Firm to Pay $7.8 Million in Sanctions Settlement," 21 Dec. 2018 The Hungarian unit of Zoltek, known as Zoltek ZRT, is a large buyer of acrylonitrile, a key chemical component in carbon fiber. — Samuel Rubenfeld, WSJ, "Carbon-Fiber Firm to Pay $7.8 Million in Sanctions Settlement," 21 Dec. 2018 People who used e-cigarettes had roughly 19 percent more lead, 23 percent more of the heavy metal cadmium, 20 percent more pyrene (a biomarker of carcinogens that are linked to heart attacks), and 66 percent more acrylonitrile in their urine. — Rachel Becker, The Verge, "Is vaping better than smoking? Scientists studied pee to find out," 14 Dec. 2018 Those who preferred fruit flavors tended to use e-cigs more frequently and also had significantly higher levels of one toxin in particular (a cancer-causing chemical known as acrylonitrile). — Consumer Reports, Washington Post, "Carcinogens found in regular cigarettes are in e-cigarettes, too, study finds," 28 May 2018 Both forms of cigarette use caused the presence of much higher levels of dangerous chemicals in the users’ bodies, including acrylonitrile, acrolein, propylene oxide, acrylamide and crotonaldehyde, the team reported. — Benjamin Fearnow, Newsweek, "E-Cigarette Users Ingest High Levels of Cancer-Causing Chemicals, Leads to Traditional Smoking," 6 Mar. 2018 Those who used both types of cigarette had significantly higher levels of dangerous chemicals, including acrylonitrile, acrolein, propylene oxide, acrylamide and crotonaldehyde, the team reported. — Maggie Fox /, NBC News, "Teens inhale cancer-causing chemicals in e-cigarettes," 5 Mar. 2018 This also helps explain carbon fiber’s high price, as just the acrylonitrile itself—two pounds of which are required for each pound of finished product—accounts for more than half of the production cost of carbon fiber. — Bengt Halvorson, Car and Driver, "Carbon Fiber from Plants Instead of Oil: Not Just Greener but Cheaper," 29 Jan. 2018 Some of the benzene that hadn't already soaked into the ground burned up, along with cars containing ethyl ether and acrylonitrile, a volatile compound used to make plastics and acrylic fibers. — Dennis Pillion, AL.com, "Alabama site off EPA Superfund list 52 years after chemical spill," 6 Jan. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'acrylonitrile.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for acrylonitrile
acrylonitrile
noun
ac·ry·lo·ni·trile
| \ ˌak-rə-lō-ˈnī-trəl
, -ˌtrēl
\
, -ˌtrēl
\
Medical Definition of acrylonitrile
: a colorless volatile flammable liquid nitrile C3H3N used chiefly in organic synthesis and for polymerization