Properties of Phosphate Fibers

It is one thing to grow safe fibers, but quite another to know whether or not they are useful for anything other than occupying space safely. The language of materials science is foreign to most chemists of the type found in an industrial chemicals laboratory. Their work is devoted to food products, detergents, fertilizers. 

In Chapter 9 the toxicology of phosphate fibers and other fibers will be discussed in detail as related to animal testing. Is there some unique property of fibers that causes them to be more of a health hazard than the same chemical, but exhibiting a nonfibrous morphology There are several physical properties worthy 

The tendency of small particles to become air-borne to produce dust is always a matter of concern when working with solid powders. The hazards can range from health concerns to dust explosions. Unfortunately, this is another subject that cannot be given a proper treatment in this book. Those with a serious interest should refer to A. D. Zimon s outstanding treatise. Adhesion of Dusts and Powders Some more obvious properties will be noted. 

Very little work was done in an attempt to color phosphate fibers because the project did not reach the application stage of making fabrics from either [Na(P03)]/i or [NaCa(P03)3]n yarns. There is small doubt that the crystals could be dyed almost any chosen color. The behavior of organic dyes on crystal surfaces has been highly developed and colloidal pigments of both organic and inorganic substances are well known. 

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Table 6.1 is a compilation of properties of phosphate fibers as compared to chrysotile. 

A review of the properties of phosphate fibers as related to the manufacture of brakes is presented in Table 8.2. 

As mentioned under the section dealing with the electrical and static properties of phosphate fibers, they can impart antistatic properties to both plastic sheeting and cloth. No extensive work was done here other than to confirm that a static charge was controlled. 

From the moment of conception of phosphate fibers, during all research and development of phosphate fibers, it was our expressed purpose to deliver a safe, useful, inexpensive mineral fiber to society. It cannot be questioned that our mission was noble. A profit motive existed a corporation ceases to exist when there is no profit, but profit motive was not the driving force behind this project. Because of our mission it would be both deceitful and cowardly to ignore safety issues that deal with natural asbestos. These issues will be considered for comparison to phosphate fibers when it is deemed necessary. If there were no safety issues a Phosphate Fibers Project should never have existed. Properties built into phosphate fibers, to insure their utility and safety, were chosen to overcome the problems associated with asbestos. The properties of the phosphate fibers must be compared with natural serpentine minerals, both negatively and positively, if this book is to serve a useful purpose. 

The primary useful property of phosphates that perhaps nothing else approaches, is the safety record of phosphates in manufacturing plants and households around the world. It was with this fact in mind that two candidates for new mineral fibers were chosen. There were at least eight other candidates that could have been selected. As noted, there are two general molecular forms of serpentine minerals that are referred to as asbestos. These are the chrysotile and the amphibole types. These two forms of asbestos are about as similar, chemically and physically, as sodium chloride and sucrose both are white crystalline solids. 

If the objective is to prepare the safest mineral fiber that it is theoretically possible to manufacture, no trace of a toxic substance can be tolerated There was never any doubt in the author s mind that only food grade raw material could be used in this process, although the question of using purified wet phosphoric acid, derived from fertilizers, was raised from time to time. In my judgement, the best commercially available purified wet phosphoric acid is inferior to furnace acid and, although it probably could be used, it would be done with some loss of a safety margin that has been paramount throughout the history of this project. Safety is the hallmark of phosphate fibers. When safety is not an issue, some other fibers have superior properties. 

There are many properties of phosphates that have respectable values when compared to other competitive fibers. Chrysotile was chosen for comparison, because it was this area that was most likely to be a one-on-one replacement in the early days of commercialization. 

Other than a city water supply, no other raw materials are used in the manufacture of phosphate fibers. It is doubtful that this could be a critical issue, but if unexpected difficulties were encountered a water supply can cause some strange problems. An example of such a problem could occur if some unwanted seed crystals should grow from a mineral in a perfectly acceptable potable water supply. This could cause a change in crystal habit and fiber properties. 

The price of phosphate fibers and most manufactured substances can never compete with mined products such as asbestos, nor can it compete in performance in many areas where indestructibleness is a desirable property. Mined products have had to withstand the ravages of time to have survived. They have had centuries to approach a minimum free energy and, until disturbed, they are likely to maintain their current status. This, of course, excludes organic materials that have been... 

The safety of phosphate fibers and their unique properties not possessed by minerals would allow them to receive a higher selling price in areas where they can compete without competition from minerals. The food and medical areas are examples of these markets. Very often it is desirable that a product is degradable. 

It has been my steadfast conviction from the time I first conceived of phosphate fibers that they are a product that requires no toxicological study. This is the driving force that caused me to initiate the project in the first place. If the fibers are not obviously safe, it made no sense to begin a project. Fibers of phosphate are not new and have been used in all manner of household and industrial products for several lifetimes. They have never caused any toxic problems for people, animals, or vegetation. Literature mentions were made that many phosphates were fibrous and resemble chrysotile in appearance. No use had ever been made of their fiber properties. As long as they were merely being eaten, drunk, and inhaled, no notice was taken of the fact that they were fibrous. It was only when they were to become a safe replacement for asbestos that their safety was questioned. The same is true again today we continue to eat, drink, and breathe phosphates and no one questions their safety. 

A mixture of monolauryl phosphate sodium salt and triethylamine in H20 was treated with glycidol at 80°C for 8 h to give 98% lauryl 2,3-dihydro-xypropyl phosphate sodium salt [304]. Dyeing aids for polyester fibers exist of triethanolamine salts of ethoxylated phenol-styrene adduct phosphate esters [294], Fatty ethanolamide phosphate surfactant are obtained from the reaction of fatty alcohols and fatty ethanolamides with phosphorus pentoxide and neutralization of the product [295]. A double bond in the alkyl group of phosphoric acid esters alter the properties of the molecule. Diethylethanolamine salt of oleyl phosphate is effectively used as a dispersant for antimony oxide in a mixture of xylene-type solvent and water. The composition is useful as an additive for preventing functional deterioration of fluid catalytic cracking catalysts for heavy petroleum fractions. When it was allowed to stand at room temperature for 1 month it shows almost no precipitation [241]. 

Tri (rt-butyl)phosphate (TBP), 79 674 Tri-l,10-phenanthroline-iron(II), 7 589 1-Triacontanol physical properties of, 2 3t cis-21-Triacontenoic acid physical properties, 5 32t Triacetate chiral stationary phase, 6 88t Triacetate fibers, 24 614 Triacetone amine... 

Griffith7 chronicled in lively fashion the growth and sudden demise of an extraordinary project of the Monsanto Co. to make phosphate fibers as substitutes for the much maligned asbestoses. The object was to make materials with most of the desirable properties of asbestos, but that would hydrolyze slowly in, say, the alveoli of the lungs to form a soluble and biologically beneficial product (phosphate ions), so avoiding the tendency of insoluble aluminosilicate fibers to remain indefinitely in biological material with the attendant risk of cancer. 

Binding of iron by dietary fiber is strongly inhibited by ascorbic acid, citrate, cysteine, EDTA or phytate in concentrations as lew as 100 >uMols/Liter (A3). The inhibitors have the common property of being able to form soluble complexes with iron. The decarbox-ylic amino acids and their amides inhibit binding moderately as do lysine and histidine. Other amino acids either do not interfere with binding of iron fiber or do so only weakly. Calcium (as acetate) and phosphate act as moderate inhibitors. The detergents sodium lauryl sulfonate or cetyltrimethylammonium bromide had no effect on iron binding by fiber (A2). 

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