Carpets, automotive polymers

Prodnction of Nylon-6 from caprolactam is an important global industrial process. Of the several billions of pounds of caprolactam produced armually, most is polymerized to Nylon-6 [1]. Nylon-6 polymer is used in the manufacture of carpets, automotive parts and sporting goods as well as in films and packaging. 

Nylons belong to the class of polymers known as engineering polymers that is, they are strong, tough, and heat resistant. We can readily extrude and mold nylons to form a wide variety of useful objects, such as tubing, furniture casters, and automotive air intake ducts. Nylons are commonly spun into filaments or fibers. These can be used directly, or braided, or twisted to form threads, yarns, cords, and ropes, which may be further woven to make fabrics. In their fibrous forms, nylons are used in carpets, backpacks, and hosiery. 

In the recent years, new markets have arisen for biodegradable polymers such as poly(butylene adipate-terephthalate), poly(lactide), poly(butylenesuccinate), or poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and poly(carbonates). They constitute a new class of green polymers with wide application potential for packaging, clothing, carpets, applications in automotive engineering, foils, and utilities in agriculture. 

Major polymer applications automotive industry (radiator end tanks, inlet manifolds, rocker covers), electrical components (connectors, switches, motor frames), bearing cages, mechanical handling components, fibers, carpets, tire reinforcement, many other applications... 

Uses Extender for plastics, coatings, adhesives, sealants, patching compds., automotive underbody coatings, modeling clays, building materials, explosives, foams, textile printing inks, paper mfg., carpets, syn. wood, roof coatings, polymer concrete, wire and cable, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals... 

Polyurethanes are addition polymers containing the urethane linkage,-RNHCOOR -. They have been of great commercial importance for 50 years, with many applications as foam (furniture and automotive seating, insulation, carpet underlay), coatings (automotive and architectural paint), adhesives and sealants, and as elastomers for a variety of special purposes. 

Fiber end-use applications include (2) ready-to-wear, active-wear, intimate apparels, inner linings where stretch-recovery, softness, hand, and drape are the key attributes (2) carpets where resiliency, newness retention, stain resistance, and low static generation provide values over currently used materials in some market segments (3) automotive and home upholstery utilizing the easy dyeing, stain resistance, stretch-recovery properties. Within a short period of time since the polymer s commercialization, PTT ready-to-wear stretch apparels (52) and resilient floor coverings had already appeared in the market (since 1999). 

Thus, solvolysis, as the predominant conversion route for step-growth plastics, is, in principle, applicable to only 20% of all plastics sold in the U.S. Step growth polymers are predominant in at least three critical waste feedstocks containining mixed plastics for which generic separation is either difficult or non-economic these streams identified in our earlier studies, [1], include automotive shredder residue (e.g. PUR, SMC, PET, Nylons), textile/carpets (e.g. polyesters, nylons) and post-consumer plastics obtained from Municipal Solid Waste, MSW (e.g. PET, PE, PVC). 

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