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Polymer Chemistry

PhD Halina Falfushynska

Classification

A. Natural
Protein, Nucleic acid,
Polysaccharide
PET,
Polyurethane
Polyethylene

B. Synthetic

Application of polymeric materials


PE milk bottles
Polyamide bulletproof vests
Polyurethane artificial heart
Fluorinated
phosphazene
elastomer for arctic environments

Examples of monomers and polymers


Monomer
CH2

CH2

CH2

CHCl

Polymer

CH2CH2

CH2CH2
Cl

O
H2C

CH2

CH2CH2O

HOCH2CH2OH

CH2CH2O
O

HO

CO2H

Definitions
A. Acoording to the amount of repeating units
monomer : one unit
oligomer : few
polymer : many (poly many, mer part)
telechelic polymer : polymer containing reactive end group
(tele = far, chele = claw)
telechelic oligomer : oligomer containing reactive end group
macromer(=macro monomer) : monomer containing long chain

Polymerization Processes
B. Modern classification of polymerization according to
polymerization mechanism
Step growth polymerization : Polymers build up stepwise

Chain growth polymerization : Addition polymerization


molecular weights increase successively,
one by one monomer
Ring-opening polymerization may be either step
or chain reaction

Definitions
B. DP : Degree of polymerization
The total number of repeating units
contained terminal group

C. The kinds of applied monomers


One kind : Homopolymer
Two kinds : Copolymer
Three kinds : Terpolymer

Representation of polymer types

(a) linear(b)branch

(c)network

Representation of polymer architectures

(a) star polymer

(b) comb polymer

(c)ladder polymer

(d) semi- ladder


(or stepladder) polymer

Representation of polymer architectures

(e) polyrotaxane

(g) dendrimer

(f) polycatenane

The swelling capacity of a polymer


amount of liquid material that can be
absorbed

Beaker test method


Tea bag test method

diagrammatic representation of part of the polymer network.


When water is added to SAP there is a polymer/solvent interaction;
hydration and the formation of hydrogen bonds are two of these
interactions

Kinetics of polymer swelling


1 unlimited swelling polymer or/and with low M
2 polymer with high M

Beaker test method


A small amount of superabsorbent polymer material
is taken (0.1g) and it is placed in the beaker.
100 ml of doionised water is poured into the beaker.
After 20 min the swollen polymer was separated by
using filter paper
By weighing the polymer, one can find the swollen
capacity of the SAP material.

Degree of swelling

m m 0 V V0

m0
V0
mo mass of polymer at the beginning,
m - mass of polymer at the end

Velocity of swelling
dm

dt

Tea bag test method


Take 0.1g of SAP material and put the bag
suspended over the excess watered beaker
Note the time 20 min. And weigh the bag

The percentage of swelling:

(w2-w1)/(w1) %
w1= weight of the polymer (Before swelling)
w2= weight of the polymer (After swelling)

Abbreviations
PVC

Poly(vinyl chloride)

HDPE High-density polyethylene


LDPE

Low-density polyethylene

PET

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)

Codes for Plastics


1
2
3
4
5
6

PETE soft drink bottles


LDPE plastic bags, toys
PVC water pipes
HDPE milk jugs
PP bottle caps
PS styrofoam

Commodity Plastic
Type

Abbreviation

Low-density polyethylene LDPE


High-density
Polyethylene
Polypropylene

HDPE
PP

Poly(vinyl chloride)

PVC

Polystyrene

PS

MajorUses
Packaging film, wire and cable insulation,
toys, flexible bottles housewares, coatings
Bottles, drums, pipe, conduit, sheet, film,
wire and cable insulation
Automobile and appliance parts, furniture,
cordage, webbing, carpeting, film packaging
Construction, rigid pipe, flooring, wire
and cable insulation, film and sheet
Packaging (foam and film), foam
insulation appliances, housewares, toys

1.8 Industrial Polymers


a. The world consumption of synthetic polymers
: 150 million metric tons per year.

1) Plastics : 56%
2) Fibers : 18%
3) Synthetic rubber : 11%
4) Coating and Adhesives : 15%
b.Styrene-butadiene copolymer
Synthetic rubber, PET

Fiber (polyester)

Latex paint

Plastic (bottle)

Plastics
1) Commodity plastics
LDPE, HDPE, PP, PVC, PS
2) Engineering plastics
Acetal, Polyamide, Polyamideimide, Polyarylate,
Polybenzimidazole, etc.
3) Thermosetting plastics
Phenol-formaldehyde, Urea-formaldehyde,
Unsaturated polyester, Epoxy,
Melamine-formaldehyde
4) Functional plastics
Optics, Biomaterial, etc.

Fibers
1) Cellulosic : Acetate rayon, Viscose rayon
2) Noncellulosic :
Polyester, Nylon(Nylon6,6, Nylon6, etc), Olefin
(PP, Copolymer(PVC 85%+PAN and others 15%;
vinyon))
3) Acrylic :
Contain at least 80% acrylonitrile
(PAN 80% + PVC and others 20%)

Rubber (Elastomers)
1) Natural rubber : cis-polyisoprene
2) Synthetic rubber : Styrene-butadiene, Polybutadiene,
Ethylene-propylene(EPDM), Polychloroprene,
Polyisoprene,
Nitrile, Butyl, Silicone, Urethane
3) Thermoplastic elastomer : Styrene-butadiene block
copolymer (SB or SBS)

Coating and Adhesives


1) Coating : Lacquer, Vanishes,
Paint (Oil or Latex), Latex
2) Adhesives :
Solvent based,
Hot melt, Pressure sensitive, etc.
Acrylate,
Epoxy,
Urethane,
Cyanoacrylate

Principal Types of Synthetic Rubber


Type

Description

Styrene-butadiene Copolymer of the two monomers in various proportions depending on


properties desired; called SBR for styrene-butadiene rubber
Polybutadiene
Consists almost entirely of the cis-1,4 polymer
Ethylenepropylene

Often abbreviated EPDM for ethylene-propylene-diene monomer;


made up principally of ethylene and propylene units with small amounts
of a diene to provide unsaturation

Polychloroprene

Principally the trans-1,4polymer, but also some cis-1,4 and 1,2 polymer;
also known as neoprene rubber

Polyisoprene
Nitrile
Butyl

Mainly the cis-1,4 polymer; sometimes called synthetic natural rubber


Copolymer of acrylonitrile and butadiene, mainly the latter
Copolyner of isobutylene and isoprene, with only small amounts of the
Latter
Contains inorganic backbone of alternating oxygen and methylated silicon
atoms; also called polysiloxane (Chap. 15)
Elastomers prepared by linking polyethers through urethane groups
(Chap. 13)

Silicone
Urethane

You are made of biopolymer


R group varies one unit to the next

H O
N

H R

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The 4 levels of structure


Primary: the sequence of the amino acids
Secondary: helix, coil or random sheet
(and a few others)
Tertiary: folding of the unit, including
S-S- bridges
Quaternary: how the blobs assemble

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The 4 levels of structure

Biopolymers: Nucleic Acids


Ribose sugar

Base

OH

3'

H
O ..... H N

H3C

O P O

OH

O P O

OH

O
U

O
H2C

N H

O P O

OH

OH

O P O

H2C

O P O

H2C

H2C

O
O P O
OH

RNA

H
N H ..... O
A

CH3

N ........ H N T

C N .....
H N G
N
N
O .... H N
H

P O
O
CH2

OH

O P O

OH

NH2

OH
O

H
N H .. O

O P O

OH

OH

A N

H2C

NH

N
N

OH

CH2

O
N

P O
O

NH ......... O

OH

OH

OH
O

O P O

CH2

G N H ........ N C

NH2

N
O

H2C

CH2 O

H
O ... H N

OH

G N

O
O P O

H2C

T N H ...... N

5'

O P O

CH2

O
N
O

3'

O P O
O

O
5'

DNA

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Microencapsulation
Microencapsulationis a
process in which tiny
particles or droplets
are surrounded by a
coating to give small
capsules many useful
properties.

Ionotropic gelation
In-situ
polymerization
Coacervation-phase
separation

Coacervation
The
phenomeno
n of forming
a liquid rich
in polymer
phase in
equilibrium
with another
liquid
phase.

Mechanism of coacervation

Formation of
primary droplets
with hydrated
macromoleculars

Secondary
drop from
primary
cluster

Layering the
solution with
coacervates top

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