Plastics, permeability

Peltier coefficient See coefficient, Peltier, penetrant An agent that is used to increase the speed and ease with which a bath or liquid permeates a material being processed by effectively reducing the interfacial tension between the soHd and liquid. See barrier plastic permeability. 

An extensive new Section 10 is devoted to polymers, rubbers, fats, oils, and waxes. A discussion of polymers and rubbers is followed by the formulas and key properties of plastic materials. Eor each member and type of the plastic families there is a tabulation of their physical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties and characteristics. A similar treatment is accorded the various types of rubber materials. Chemical resistance and gas permeability constants are also given for rubbers and plastics. The section concludes with various constants of fats, oils, and waxes. 

The organophosphoms ester dichlorvos is sufficiently volatile to be incorporated either in permeable plastic bottles or plastic strips which permit its controlled release for fumigation of cupboards and closets to control cockroaches, or as flea collars on pets. 

Polymer Plasticizer. Nylon, cellulose, and cellulose esters can be plasticized using sulfolane to improve flexibiUty and to increase elongation of the polymer (130,131). More importantly, sulfolane is a preferred plasticizer for the synthesis of cellulose hoUow fibers, which are used as permeabiUty membranes in reverse osmosis (qv) cells (131—133) (see Hollow-FIBERMEMBRANEs). In the preparation of the hoUow fibers, a molten mixture of sulfolane and cellulose triacetate is extmded through a die to form the hoUow fiber. The sulfolane is subsequently extracted from the fiber with water to give a permeable, plasticizer-free, hoUow fiber. 

The effect of copolymer composition on gas permeability is shown in Table 9. The inherent barrier in VDC copolymers can best be exploited by using films containing Htde or no plasticizers and as much VDC as possible. However, the permeabiUty of even completely amorphous copolymers, for example, 60% VDC—40% AN or 50% VDC—50% VC, is low compared to that of other polymers. The primary reason is that diffusion coefficients of molecules in VDC copolymers are very low. This factor, together with the low solubiUty of many gases in VDC copolymers and the high crystallinity, results in very low permeabiUty. PermeabiUty is affected by the kind and amounts of comonomer as well as crystallinity. A change from PVDC to 50 wt °/ VC or 40 wt % AN increases permeabiUty 10-fold, but has Httle effect on the solubiUty coefficient. 

A more polar comonomer, eg, an AN comonomer, increases the water-vapor transmission more than VC when other factors are constant. For the same reason, AN copolymers are more resistant to penetrants of low cohesive energy density. AH VDC copolymers, however, are very impermeable to ahphatic hydrocarbons. Comonomers that lower T and increase the free volume in the amorphous phase increase permeability more than the polar comonomers higher acrylates are an example. Plasticizers increase permeabiUty for similar reasons. 

Fig. 4. Oxygen permeability in a vinylidene chloride copolymer film at selected levels of plasticizer (Citroflex A-4). Plasticizer level in parts pet hundred resin...

Separator s a physical barrier between the positive and negative electrodes incorporated into most cell designs to prevent electrical shorting. The separator can be a gelled electrolyte or a microporous plastic film or other porous inert material filled with electrolyte. Separators must be permeable to ions and inert in the battery environment. 

Vinyl neopentanoate is used in the preparation of adhesives and binders (44—46), optical materials for plastic lenses (47), gas permeable membranes for oxygen enrichment (48), and in coating appHcations (49,50). 

Hard lenses can be defined as plastic lenses that contain no water, have moduli in excess of 5 MPa (500 g/mm ), and have T well above the temperature of the ocular environment. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) has excellent optical and mechanical properties and scratch resistance and was the first and only plastic used as a hard lens material before higher oxygen-permeable materials were developed. PMMA lenses also show excellent wetting in the ocular environment even though they are hydrophobic, eg, the contact angle is 66°. 

Cast molding is an increasingly used manufacturing process for both rigid gas-permeable and hydrogel contact lenses. In this process, two molds, made from a variety of plastics, are used. A female mold forms the lens front surface (convex) and a male mold forms the lens back surface (concave). The plastic molds are made from metal tools or dies that are usually stainless steel, precision lathed, and polished to the specified lens design. A variety of mold materials are used. The polymerized, hardened lens is released from the mated molds and is processed in much the same way as the spin-cast lenses described above. 

Foamed or Cellular CeUular plastics such as polyurethane and polystyrene do not hold up or perform well in the ciyogenic temperature range because of permeation of the cell strnc tnre by water vapor, which in turn increases the heat-transfer rate. CeUular glass holds up better and is less permeable. 

Plasticization and Other Time Effects Most data from the literature, including those presented above are taken from experiments where one gas at a time is tested, with Ot calculated as a ratio of the two permeabihties. If either gas permeates because of a high-sorption coefficient rather than a high diffusivity, there may be an increase in the permeabihty of all gases in contact with the membrane. Thus, the Ot actually found in a real separation may be much lower than that calculated by the simple ratio of permeabilities. The data in the hterature do not rehably include the plasticization effect. If present, it results in the sometimes slow relaxation of polymer structure giving a rise in permeabihty and a dramatic dechne in selectivity. 

Compared with more common plastics used as packaging materials, the compound does have some disadvantages, such as a high water vapour permeability and limited heat resistance, losing dimensional stability at about 70°C. It is also substantially more expensive than the high-tonnage polyolefins. Last but not least its biodegradability means that it must be used in applications that will have completed their function within a few months of the manufacture of the polymer compound. 

Overall board density will strongly affect core layer plasticization and density profile (Fig. 12), as at the highest overall board density a steep density gradient appears between the surface and core layers of the board. This is due to the greater difficulty encountered by the steam to penetrate and plasticize it. At lower density, the greater mat permeability enables a faster steam throughflow of the board, comparable to a steam injection process. The final result is similar as the overall board density is closer in value to both core and surface densities. 

Permeability. The low density of plastics is an advantage in many situations but the relatively loose packing of the molecules means that gases and liquids can permeate through the plastic. This can be important in many applications such as packaging or fuel tanks. It is not possible to generalise about the performance of plastics relative to each other or in respect to the performance of a specific plastic in contact with different liquids and gases. 

The main reason for producing multi-layer co-extruded films is to get materials with better barrier properties - particularly in regard to gas permeation. The following Table shows the effects which can be achieved. Data on permeability of plastics are also given in Figs 1.13 and 1.14. 

Most of the above can be made into plastic films - primarily used for wrapping. Film properties vary widely from permeable for food to impermeable to preserve dryness. Paper, treated or untreated, has been used for many years as a covering film, but has low strength when wet and is difficult to make transparent. In the 1920s, the transparency of cellophane revolutionized wrap. It is regenerated cellulose, like viscose rayon, except it is extruded in sheet instead of fiber, unfortunately it is sensitive to water and humidity. 

Atterberg-limit tests determine the water content influence in defining liquid, plastic, semisolid and solid states of fine-grained soils. Permeability tests may be carried out in the laboratory or in the field. Such tests are used to determine the hydraulic conductivity coefficient k. ... 

Typically, large-scale gas filling makes the main characteristics of foam plastics — coefficients of heat and temperature conductivity, dielectric permeability, and the tangent of the dielectric loss angle — totally independent of the chemical structure of the original polymer [1],... 

Buoyancy in some form is employed in nearly all categories of underwater and surface systems to support them above the ocean bottom or to minimize their submerged weight. The buoyant material can assume many different structural forms utilizing a wide variety of densities. The choice of materials is severely restricted by operational requirements, since different environmental conditions exist. For example, lighter, buoyant liquids can be more volatile than heavier liquids. This factor can have a deleterious effect on a steel structure by accelerating stress corrosion or increasing permeability in reinforced plastics. 

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