Department of Chemical Engineering

Polymers and Plastics Engineering (0905553)

INTRODUCTION
Plastics are ubiquitous (existing) in daily life. Major industries depend on
them; neither the electronic industry nor the modern food packaging system can exist
without plastics. Plastics in daily life:
 Electronic industry
 Modern food packaging
 Building
 Construction
 Household goods
 Appliances
 Transportation
 Toys
 Furniture
 Agriculture.

The name plastics refer to their easy processability and shaping (Greek: plastein
= to form or shape).

Polymers are raw materials for plastics; they become plastics only
after physical compounding and, in some cases, after chemical hardening.

Polymers are a group of:

 Organic
 semi organic, or
 inorganic
they are chemical substances with high molar masses.

The term polymer molecule refers to a molecule composed of many units

(Greek, poly = many, meros = parts), polymer molecules may thus consist of many
atoms, usually a thousand or more, thereby having high molar masses 'molecular
weights'.

Polymers are not only used fibers, binder in paints. Other

as plastics but as
polymers may be utilized as fibers, elastomers (elastic substances like rubber),
thickeners, and ion exchange resins.
Raw Materials for Polymers

Characteristics of polymers:

Every polymer has very distinct characteristics, but most polymers have the following
general attributes:
1. Polymers can be very resistant to chemical.
2. Polymers can be both thermal and electrical insulators.
3. Polymers are very lightin weight with varying degrees of strength.
4. Polymers can be processed in various ways to produce thin fibers
or very intricate (complex) parts.

Growth of Modern Plastics

 The period 1930-1940 saw the initial commercial development of today's
major thermoplastics.
 The advent of the World War II in 1939 brought plastics into great demand,
largely as substitutes for materials in short supply.
 The first decade after World War II saw the development of PP and HDPE and
the growth of the new plastics in many applications.
 The demand for plastics has increased steadily; plastics are now accepted by
designers and engineers as basic materials along with the more traditional
materials.
 Their rapid growth was due to inexpensive raw materials, easy processing, and
a wide range of useful and often essential properties.

The following figure shows the world consumption of plastics by sectors. Packaging
uses 71% of all thermoformed plastics.
The following chart shows the global demand for thermoplastic elastomers:
The following chart shows the world plastic resin consumption:

Classification of Polymers:

1. Natural Polymers: exist in nature such as:

 Nucleic acid: the acids found in the cell nucleus.
 Casein: the most important protein of milk and cheese, (Latin, caseus =
cheese).
 Cellulose: the polymeric sugar of the plant cell.

Some of these naturally polymers are used by man as materials without further
chemical transformation, example: cellulose for paper.

2. Synthesized Polymers: most polymers are, however, synthesized

from molecules with low molar masses, the so-called monomers. These
processes are called polymerization, example are the preparation of:
 Polyethylene from ethylene.
 Polyvinylchloride from vinyl chloride.
 Polypropylene from propylene.
 Polystyrene from styrene.

Thermoplastics or Thermosetting:
Components and products are increasingly being made from plastic (polymer)
materials and there is a wide choice of manufacturing techniques available. Some of
the advantages of manufacturing with polymers are as follows.
 With many polymers manufacturing processes the energy requirements are
small compared with that of metals.
 The amount of polymer used can be accurately determined with very small or
negligible amounts of waste.
 When casting polymers shrinkage voids are less of a problem than with metals
due to the fact that they are not good conductors of heat and do not therefore
exhibit large thermal gradients that could lead to uneven cooling.
 Polymers do not, in general, react with the air, and this means that
incorporating features in the mould that would be necessary in the case of
metals, to reduce oxidation problems, are not required in the case of plastics.

Because of these factors, manufacturing methods for polymers are cheaper than that
for most metals.
The use of polymers also enables greater flexibility in the design of components.
However, polymer components are not usually as strong or stiff or resistant to heat as
components made from metals.

There are two basic families of polymers: thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics:

Thermoplastics:

 When a thermoplastic is heated it first softens (plasticisers).

 After time or as the heat is increased, secondary bonding (Van Der Waals
bonds between the long chain molecules) breaks down and it becomes
viscous liquid.
 After the heat is removed the liquid thermoplastic will solidify (a physical
process) with the identical chemical and physical structure that it had before it
melted.
 This property of melting and freezing via the formation and breaking down of
secondary bonding is much the same as the way most metals behave.
 The shaping of a thermoplastic is thus a reversible process.
 They are normally composed of fairly high molar mass molecules.
 Examples of thermoplastics are: PP, PE, PVC, PS, nylon, acrylics (such as
perspex and plexiglas).

Thermosetting resins:
 Harden through chemical cross-linking reactions between polymer
molecules and become thermosets since their shapes and properties are set by
this process.
 Thermosetting plastics, known as thermosets, undergo an irreversible
chemical change when heated.
 The initial heating causes a thermoset to soften, in the same way as a
thermoplastic, and then, after a time usually in the region of a few minutes, the
 thermoset will harden, due to an irreversible chemical change known as
polymerisation. This is the formation of primary covalent bonding –
crosslinking – between the long chain molecules.
 Re-heating thermosets would not soften them again and they would retain
their rigidity up to the point where they are destroyed by ablation (decompose
chemically).
 One major disadvantage with thermosets is that, unlike thermoplastics, they
cannot be recycled, their formation is irreversible.
 Thermosets are usually generated from fairly low molar mass polymers
called prepolymers.
 Examples: epoxies, polyesters, silicones and rubbers.

Groups of Plastics:

1. Commodity thermoplastics are manufactured in great amounts;

PVC, PE (HD, LD, LLD), iPP, PS.
2. Engineering plastics (technical plastics) are in general thermoplastics that
posses improved mechanical properties compared to commodity plastics.
They maintain dimensional stability and most mechanical properties above
100oC or below 0oC.
PET, PC, Polyamides, polymethyl methacrylate, polyoxymethylene.
3. High-performance plastics are engineering plastics with even more
improved mechanical properties. They comprise liquid crystalline polymers,
polyetherketones, polysulfones, polyphynylene sulfide.
4. Functional plastics: have only one very specific use like poly ethylene-co-
vinyl alcohol is a functional plastic that is only used as a barrier resin in
packaging.
5. Fluroplastics are specially plastics because of their surface properties.
They comprise polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Teflon), poly vinylidene
fluoride (PVDF), polychlorotrifluroethylene (PCTFE).
6. Thermosets are sometimes also classified as engineering or high-
performance plastics. They comprise alkyd resins, phenolic resins, amino
resins, epoxides (epoxies), polyurethanes.

Advantages of Plastics
 Corrosion resistance (polyester powder coating).
 Electrical insulation (wire coating).
 Reduced vibration noise (damping).
 Low thermal conductivity (thermal insulation).
 Durable and tough.
 Colour fastness.
 Low density (ρ = 1000-1500 kg/m3).
  Low energy to mould and shape.
 Complex shapes moulded in one piece (injection moulding).

Disadvantages of Plastics
 Low stiffness (1-4 GPa).
 Low strength (7-100 MPa).
 High thermal expansion (30-200.10-6 K-1).
 Low heat distortion temperature (<150 oC).
 Mechanical properties vary with time and temperature.
 Disposal/recycling issues.
The following figure shows the classifications of polymers and examples on each
type: