Materials – Plastics

General Concepts
 States of matter

• Gaseous
• Liquid
• Solid : we concentrate on solid
structural plastic materials
 Gases and Liquids in Polymer industry

Gases are used

• in foamed plastics
• for powering pneumatic machinery
• for Polymerization or condensation of gaseous
monomers

Liquids are represented by

• Hydraulic fluids for powering plastic processing
machinery
• By oils used for lubrication
• Plasticizers and other liquid additives - upto
40% of some plastic molding compounds
 Fourth element

Fire
• Added by Greek philosophers to their understanding of the
Universe
• Although not considered as matter, fire, as heat or lack of it,
profoundly affects the state of all materials.
Eg. Addition of heat converts water to a gas (steam) and to solid
(ice) on removal of heat.
• This kind of phase change between liquid and solid is of utmost
importance to all polymer processing conditions.
• The value of heat energy (cal or J) transferred has implications on
energy requirement for processing of plastic materials.
 Categorizing Materials

Solid materials
• Categorized according to chemical source
and separated into groups of
• Naturally occurring
• Man-made substances
 Properties of materials

 The properties of any materials is based on

 The atoms or groups of atoms that constitute the
molecule,
 The bonds or structural arrangement of these atoms,
and
 The extent of the aggregation, in the case of plastics
materials the size of the polymer.
 Linear arrangement of carbon atoms
• The simplest organic molecule methane consists of one carbon
atom and four hydrogen atoms.
• Combining two carbon atoms – six valences – if occupied by
hydrogen – ethane formed, which has a molecular weight of
not quite twice that of methane.
• Although both molecules are gases at ambient temperatures
their melting point, boiling points and specific gravities are
quite different.
• When no. of carbon atoms in the molecule is again doubled, a
similar change in the properties is noted.
 Linear arrangement of carbon atoms…

• This increase in carbon atoms can be repeated several

times. However, as mol.wt further increases, the
magnitude of change in properties diminishes more
and more.
• All members containing upto four of these chain links
are gases, upto 15 are liquids and with more are
crystalline solids at room temperature.
• As molecular weight increases, the carbon content
also increases, from 75 to 85.7%
• Decreasing hydrogen content is responsible for a
decreasing - heat of combustion and ease of
flammability.
Linear arrangement of carbon atoms…
 Branched hydrocarbons

• Compounds with one or a large number of branches (or

side chains) must have a lower surface-to-volume ratio
and must be more clustered.
• Also, the molecule’s end-to-end distance must be shorter.
• These changes are responsible for the following property
alterations:
• Lower boiling and melting points,
• Less orderly packing, resulting in lower specific gravity
• Less tendency to crystallize, as well as
• Lower tensile strength and stiffness
Other arrangements of carbon atoms

• Cyclic arrangements – ends of carbon – carbon

chains with a length of five or six carbon atoms
can easily form a ring structure
• Three dimensional steric arrangements
• Tacticity in polymers (Atactic, isotactic and
syndiotactic)
 Polymers
• They are complex and giant molecules and are different from
low molecular weight compounds like, say, common salt.
• Mol. Wt. of common salt is only 58.5, while that of a polymer
can be as high as several hundred thousands.
• These big molecules or ‘Macro-molecules’ are made up of
much smaller molecules.
• The small molecules, which combines can be one or more
chemical compounds.
 Polymers…

• This interlinking of many units has given the

polymer its name poly meaning many and mer
meaning part (in Greek)
• Eg, gaseous compound called butadiene, with a
molecular weight of 54, combines nearly 4000
times and gives a polymer known as
polybutadiene (a synthetic rubber) with about
200,000 molecular weight.
Low molecular wt. compound Vs polymer –
Difference in behavior on heating
Low molecular wt. compound Vs polymer –
Difference in solubility behavior
 How are Polymers made?

• mer – monomers (meaning, single part)

• Process by which monomers linked to form a
big polymer molecule is called
polymerisation
• Two reactive sites (bifunctionality) of the
monomer are prerequisites, if the molecular
build-up process to continue.
 Polymerization

• Addition polymerisation – molecules just add on to

form the polymer
Eg: ethylene add on to form polyethylene
• Condensation polymerisation – molecules not just add
on but also undergo some reaction in forming the
polymer.
Eg: condensation takes place between two reactive
functional groups, like carboxyl group (of an acid) and
hydroxyl group (of an alcohol)

In both polymerisation, the polymer molecule formed contains a

structural identity, repeating itself several times. These repeating entities
are called monomers.
Source: http://www.slideshare.net/Oatsmith/chapter-26-wade-7th-cgd
 Degree of Polymerization

• The size of polymer is decided by

number of repeat units present in it.
This number denotes the degree of
polymerisation
 Plastic Materials
• Plastic materials have been and continue to be developed
both as substitute for and as improvement over some of the
other established materials (Minerals, Metals, Ceramics,
Glasses, Cements)
• Processing similarities between new plastic materials and
other established older materials
Compounding, alloying, Casting, Sintering, Compression
forming, Composite processing, Forging, Stamping,
Injection forming, Extrusion forming, Fiber drawing,
Rolling, Calendering, Laminating, Thermoforming, Blow
forming