EVOLUTION OF THE NIGERIAN POLYMER AND PAPER BANK NOTES; THE CHALLENGES OF COST-BENEFIT AND STRUCTURE – PROPERTY ADVANTAGES
M. Dalen, Aminu Ibrahim, Haruna Adamu, I. Y. Chindo · 2015
Synthetic polymers have become an indispensable part of our everyday life since their introduction over 100 years ago. This paper highlights the application and utilization of polymers in medicine, food and agriculture, housing and environment, engineering, electrical and electronics, particularly the use of biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), a crystalline conformer that exists in monoclinic, hexagonal and trigonal shapes in the production of films for banknotes which in Nigeria today is facing photo-degradation challenges resulting to fading and brittleness. These challenges have prompted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to contemplate the scrapping of the polymer notes. The paper examines and compares cellulose, a natural polymer and a base material used for “paper” banknotes with BOPP, a synthetic polymer utilized for “polymer” banknotes in terms of physical and chemicals properties, ease of incorporation of security features amongst others in the light of the present challenges. The evolution of money in Nigeria from British West Africa to date is also highlighted.