Textile Raw Material-2

Lecture 03

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Polymerization: (What is Polymerization?)
Polymerization is the process that converts a monomer or a mixture of
monomers into a polymer.

The main polymerization processes to form polymers and chain-reaction

(addition) polymerization and step reaction (condensation) polymerization.

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Degree of polymerization: (Define Degree of Polymerization)
The degree of polymerization expresses the number of structural units in a
given polymer molecule
Or, It describes the polymer chain length.

()
Degree of Polymerization (DP)=
( )
For instance,
Nylon 6 -120
Nylon 6,6-200
Polyester (PET)- 100
Polyacrylonitrile > 2000
Viscose Rayon- 150-350
Cotton- 9000-15,000
Wool- 60,000-100,000
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Crystallinity and Amorphousness: (What do you understand by crystallinity and
amorphousness of a polymeric material?)
Structurally, polymers in the solid state may be amorphous or crystalline.
When polymers are cooled from the molten state or concentrated from the
solution, molecules are often attracted to each other and tend to aggregate as
closely as possible into a solid.
For some polymers, in the process of forming a solid, individual chains are folded
and packed regularly in an orderly fashion. The resulting solid is a crystalline
polymer with a long-range, three-dimensional, ordered arrangement.

The higher the molecular weight, the lower the degree of crystallinity and the
areas of the crystallites are more imperfect.
Polymers cannot be 100% crystalline, otherwise they would not be able to melt
due to the highly organizes structure.
Therefore, most polymers are considered semi-crystalline materials with a
maximum of 80% crystallinity.
In crystalline polymers molecules are arranged in orderly manner.
AMORPHOUS MATERIALS have no patterned order between the molecules
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Glass transition temperature (Tg): (What is Tg and Tm?)
Lowest temperature beyond which polymer becomes hard, brittle, glass like or
temperature at which polymer experiences transition from rubbery to rigid
state is called glass transition temperature (Tg)
Tg depends on polymer chain and polymer flexibility
If polymer molecular weight increase, glass transition temperature will also be
increased
If polymer chain is rigid, Tg will be high
If polymer chain is flexible, Tg will be low
Melting Temperature (Tm):
Temperature above which polymer turns out to be flexible, elastic and rubber

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Thermoplastic polymer: (Define thermoplastic polymer and Thermoset polymer
with example and use?)
The material that softens when heated above the glass transition temperature or
melting temperature and becomes hard after cooling is called thermoplastics.
Thermoplastics can be reversibly melted by heating and solidified by cooling in
limited number of cycles without affecting the mechanical properties.
Example: Acrylics, Cellulosics, Fluorocarbons, Polyamides, Polycarbonates,
Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylenes (PP), Polystyrenes, Polyetheretherketone,
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Use: CD, food storage
Container, drinking bottle,
Eye glass lense,
Shampoo bottle,
Grocery bag
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Thermosetting polymer:
The property of material becoming permanently hard and rigid after cooling
when heated above the melting temperature is called thermosets.
The solidification process of plastics is known as curing.
The transformation from the liquid state to the solid state is irreversible
process, further heating of thermosets result only in the chemical
decomposition.
It means that the thermosets cant be recycled.
The individual molecular chains of
thermoset polymers are characterized
by three-dimensional closely-meshed crosslinking.
This property means that they can no longer be shaped after hardening.
Example: Polyurethane, Polyester
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 Use: electronic chip, fiber reinforced composite, polymeric coating,
dental fillings

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 Question
1. What is degree of polymerization? Please mention some example.
Answer: Slide 3
2. Please briefly discuss about thermoplastic and thermosetting
material with examples and uses.
Slide: 9,11,12

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