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Extending recycling
Research s h o w i n g that the
properties of recycled plastics
are more comparable to those
of the virgin material than had
previously b e e n thought will
give engineers and designers
greater c o n f i d e n c e to use
r e c y c l e d materials in n e w
applications.
In a project supported by the
UK Department of Trade and
Industry's Materials Measure-
ment programme, the National
Physical Laboratory (NPL) has
investigated the processability
and mechanical properties of
high-density polyethylene con-
taining up to five per cent by,
weight fragments of copper.
Plastics recovered from post-
Protecting the environment
A recent Frost and Sulivan
report concluded that envi-
ronmental responsibility will
drive innovative process and
material developments so that
current growth in the use of
composites will not b e c o m e
stunted over the next decade.
The reinforced plastics indus-
try is having to 'clean up' in
order to comply with increas-
ingly stringent environmental
guidelines. Introduction of
low-styrene emission (LSE)
resins and moves away from
o p e n mould lay-up to closed-
mould processes s u c h as resin
transfer m o u l d i n g (RTM)
exemplify the trend.
Researchers at Fontys
University of Professional
Education in The Netherlands
have discovered ways of pre-
venting emissions of styrene
from gel coats during the ini-
tial stages of cure. This could
help control one of the major
sources of styrene emission
into the air, namely open-
12
; !
consumer waste usually con-
tain metallic fragments and
present perceptions are that
they have to be cleaned thor-
oughly before they can be re-
used in demanding applica-
tions. Cleaning p r o c e d u r e s
such as melt filtration or
h y d r o c y c l o n e s are usually
expensive, increasing overall
process costs.
NPL's research shows that this
added expense may not be
necessary, making it easier for
companies in the packaging,
a u t o m o t i v e and electrical/
e l e c t r o n i c sectors to m e e t
required targets for the use of
recycled plastics.
mould production. Staff at the
university's Centre for Fibre
Reinforced Plastics have dis-
covered that 'sealing' the coat-
ing surface, for example w i t h
an inert atmosphere, speeds
up cure by excluding the oxy-
gen w h i c h inhibits the
process. Less styrene is conse-
quently evaporated.
Using an inert atmosphere is
normally impractical but the
researchers have n o w devel-
o p e d a spray-on sealer which
has b e e n shown to reduce
emissions by at least 40 to
50%. A solution of ingredients
such as urea, ascorbic acid
and sodium p-toluene-
sulphonate in 1,3-propandiol,
operates w i t h o u t degrading
b o n d i n g strength or o t h e r
properties of the material to
w h i c h it is applied.
: have compensated each other and generated fictitious accord.
Though the m e t h o d is there-
fore promising, other factors
such as osmotic b e h a v i o u r
have yet to be investigated.
i i i
Cahn's
Column
tn~i~ edition of Cahn's Column,: Professor'Cahn examines the
role of a vivid imagination in scientific discovery and also the
value Of sticking to your guns in the face of adversily...
good
he attributes m one Thomas Thomley):
A candidprofEssor confesses
That the secret of half his success is
Not his science, as such
Or its marvels, so much
As his wild, irresponsibte guesses.
This ~olendid, cynical piece has set me thinking...
Guesses axe an indispensable part of scientific research: the classical
procedure is the invention of a hypothesis (i.e., a guess) followed by
a calculation of what the logical consequences of that hypothesis
would be, so that these consequences can be compared with experi-
ment. As Karl Popper pointed out, if a hypothesis is not in principle
falsifiable, it is useless for scientific purposes.
W'dd guesses can be the most productive of all: Alfred Wegener's
hypothesis of continental drift was perhaps the most famous. It was cas-
tigated as irresponsible, but it was not that...onty wild. The obvious
implications, the fitting together of the shapes of widely separated con-
tinents, did not carry conviction, but later on, Blackett's introduction of
palaenmaguetic measurements did. The creation of a wild, new experi-
mental approach often does carry profound conviction.
We are all taught that when experiment does not agree with the pre-
dictions deduced from a hypothesis under test, so much the worse for
the hypothesis. Not necessarily... For one thing, the predictions may
result from flawed theoretical methods so that the deduction from the
original hypothesis is faulty. Again, in Nature, not long ago, Lewis
Wolpert cited his fellow-biologist Francis Crick: "A theory that fits all
the facts is bound to be wrong, as some of the facts will be wrong~,
and he went on to quote a great historian of science, Gerald Holton:
"The graveyard of failed scientists is littered with those who did not
suspend disbelief when their ideas were first shown to be wrong".
There is a lot to be said for those who have the courage of their con-
victlons in the face of discouragement, so long as they remember that
courage too long sustained in the face of mounting evidence may lead
to their dismissal as pigheaded extremists,
I conclude that the candid professor had something, and that the best
wild, irresponsible guesses can lead on to fame and fortune; the tran-
sistor is perhaps the most notable historical example. Dislocations
were invented (not discovered) in 1934 and it took some 15 years
before this wild hypothesis was generally accepted and urilised - not,
in fact, until dislocations were discovered experimentally and also
theoretical methods were found to predict their properties quantita-
rively~ so that there were some detailed, reliable predictions to com-
pare with experiment. Mismatch between predictions and observa-
tions can be due to faulty observations, or to faulty theor~ or beth.
!thas happened before now that faulty experiment and faulty theory
The conclusion is that imagination is art indispensable part of sci-
ence, and that the best scientist is the one who first makes every effort
to prove himself right, and then every effort to prove himself wrong.
'Him' includes 'her', before anyone writes in.
Materials Today