Nylons, engineering plastics

Mitsubishi Int l./Plastics Monomer-Polymer Dajac Labs Nylon Engineering Plastics Color Compding. http //www.piasticscoior.com] Shuman Plastics http //www.shuman-piastics.com... 

Changsheng Li, Wenbin Mu, Jie Hu. Preparation and tribology capability of potassium titanate whiskers reinforced MC nylon. Engineering Plastics Application, 36(l) 4-7, 2008. 

Polyamides can claim to have been the first engineering plastics as a result of their excellent combination of mechanical and thermal properties. Despite being iatroduced as long ago as the 1930s, these materials have retained their vitaUty and new appHcations, and iadeed new types of nylon continue to be developed. 

The forecasts made in 1985 (77) of 8—8.5% worldwide aimual growth have not materialized. The 2 x lOg + /yr engineering plastic production reported for 1985—1986 has remained fairly constant. Whereas some resins such as PET, nylon-6, and nylon-6,6 have continued to experience growth, other resins such as poly(phenylene oxide) have experienced downturns. This is due to successhil inroads from traditional materials (wood, glass, ceramics, and metals) which are experiencing a rebound in appHcations driven by new technology and antiplastics environmental concerns. Also, recycling is likely to impact production of all plastics. 

Polyamides (nylon). There are several different types of nylon (e.g. nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 11) but as a family their characteristics of strength, stiffness and toughness have earned them a reputation as engineering plastics. Table 1.3 compares the relative merits of light metal alloys and nylon. 

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS). ABS materials have superior strength, stiffness and toughness properties to many plastics and so they are often considered in the category of engineering plastics. They compare favourably with nylon and acetal in many applications and are generally less expensive. However, they are susceptible to chemical attack by chlorinated solvents, esters, ketones, acids and alkalis. 

As regards the general behaviour of polymers, it is widely recognised that crystalline plastics offer better environmental resistance than amorphous plastics. This is as a direct result of the different structural morphology of these two classes of material (see Appendix A). Therefore engineering plastics which are also crystalline e.g. Nylon 66 are at an immediate advantage because they can offer an attractive combination of load-bearing capability and an inherent chemical resistance. In this respect the arrival of crystalline plastics such as PEEK and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) has set new standards in environmental resistance, albeit at a price. At room temperature there is no known solvent for PPS, and PEEK is only attacked by 98% sulphuric acid. 

The Shodex GPC HFIP series is packed with a hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) solvent. Engineered plastics, such as polyamides (nylon) and polyethylene terephthalate, were analyzed previously at a high temperature of about 140°C. Using FIFIP as an eluent, such engineered plastics can be analyzed at ordinary temperatures (Table 6.4). 

Figures 6.18—6.20 show the chromatograms of engineered plastics such as polyamide (nylon) and polyethylene terephthalate at ordinary temperature.

Aortal Aery Me ABS Alkyd Alloy /Blands Barrier Resin CeliAwie Diallyl Phthalates Engineering Plastics Epoxies Fluorepdlymars Liquid Crystal Melamine Nitrile Resins Nylon Phenolic Polyamlde-lmide Polycarbonate polyester Polyethylene Polyimictes Polypropylene Polyurethanes PVC... 

Most of the engineering plastics reproduce faithfully and easily conform to the mold configuration, and when processing parameters are appropriately controlled, they will repeat with excellent accuracy tolerance wise, etc. As an example for the past many decades, we see plastic gears and other precision products made of acetal, nylon, polycarbonate,... 

DSM Engineering Plastics, nylon, PBT, Polycarbonate Thermoplastic Elastomer PC/ABS Conductive Resins Thermoplastics Reinforced and Filled Thermoplastics Lubricated... 

BASF CANADA INC. DUPONT CANADA INC. EVERGREEN NYLON RECYCLING LLC RHODIA ENGINEERING PLASTICS... 

Polymers that are rigid at high temperatures are known as engineering plastics . This class of polymers includes polyacetal and many nylons. These polymers are used in applications such as small gears in office equipment and under the hood of automobiles. 

Nearly all cyclohexane is used to make three intermediate chemicals. About 85% goes for caprolactam, and adipic acid. Another 10% goes for hexamethylene diamine (HMD). All three are the starting materials for Nylon 6 or Nylon 66 synthetic fibers and resins. Nylon fiber markets include the familiar applications hosiery, upholstery, carpet, and tire cord. Nylon resins are engineering plastics and are largely used to manufacture gears, washers, and similar applications where economy, strength, and a surface with minimum friction are important. 

You can use analogies to put adipic acid in its right place. Acetic acid is the most important aliphatic monocarboxylic acid adipic is the most important aliphatic dicarboxylic acid. (You remember, of course, that carboxylic is the contraction for carbonyl and hydroxyl, -C-O and -OH, or together, -COOH. Right ) Also, adipic acid is to Nylon 66 what cumene is to phenol. About 95% of the adipic acid ends up as Nylon 66, which is used for tire cord, fibers, and engineering plastics. 

The fibers made from Nylon 66 are durable, tough, and abrasion-resistant, which suits them for tire cord. They are easy to color, which gives them a secure place in the carpet market (and on the floor). The additional attributes of moldability or processibility make Nylon 66 suitable in the engineering plastics market. 

As indicated in Table I, most properties of polyamide derivatives of BA, nylons 13, and 13/13, are predictable from properties of commercial engineering plastics such as nylon-11 and nylon-6/10 -- the BA based nylons are have lower moduli and most physical properties are unexceptional.[9,10] However, the BA based nylons have one exceptional property -- their very low capacity to absorb moisture. This property suggests that these materials may be less affected by water plasticization than other nylons, and it has attracted interest in developing BA-based nylons commercially. Development has been impeded by the fact that BA is not produced on a sufficient scale to make it cost-competitive, and apparently the attractive markets are not large enough to justify investment in development of BA processes, creating a chicken-or-egg" problem. 

Nylon-4,6 was developed by DSM Engineering Plastics in 1990 and sold under the trade name Stanyl giving a nylon that has a higher heat and chemical resistance for the automotive industry and in electrical applications. It has a of 295°C and can be made more crystalline than nylon-6,6. A number of other nylons, such as the aromatic nylons and aramids, are strong and can operate at high temperatures, and they have good flame-resistant properties. 

Nylon, polyacetal, polycarbonates, poly(2,6-dimethyl)phenylene oxide (PPO), polyimides, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyphenylene sulfones, polyaryl sulfones, polyalkylene phthalates, and polyarylether ketones (PEEK) are stiff high-melting polymers which are classified as engineering plastics. The formulas for the repeating units of some of these engineering plastics are shown in Figure 1.15. 

Several flexible polymers, such as natural rubber (NR) synthetic rubber (SR) polyalkyl acrylates copolymers of acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene, (ABS) and polyvinyl alkyl ethers, have been used to improve the impact resistance of PS and PVC. PS and copolymers of ethylene and propylene have been used to increase the ductility of polyphenylene oxide (PPO) and nylon 66, respectively. The mechanical properties of several other engineering plastics have been improved by blending them with thermoplastics. 

Nylon 66 has fair-to-good nonconductive electric properties, but these properties are diminished in the presence of moisture. Nylon 66 is the most widely used engineering plastic, but its principal use is as a fiber. 

Engineering plastics are most frequently thought of as the acetals, nylons, fluorocarbons, phenolics, polycarbonate, and polyphenylene oxide, to name just a few. These are indeed engineering materials and for such applications are usually used in relatively small... 

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