Polymer Reaction Engineering and Processing

Polymers 1
Polymer Reaction Engineering and Processing
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Polymers 2
INTRODUCTION
Polymer reaction engineering and processing is generally an engineering field that modifies,
analyses, and designs polymer materials. Polymer reaction engineering covers structure property
application and relations, description of major polymers, processing and compounding of
polymers, properties of polymers, and aspects of the characterization, structure, polymerization,
and petrochemical industry.
1.
a) Fibres used as Reinforcement for Composites
Fibreglass
Fibreglasses are glasses that have spun into the form of fibres and are not as stiff or strong as
fibres of carbon but with features that make glassfibres more appropriate in numerous uses.
Fiberglasses is an insulator since it is non-conductive and is normally invisible to majority of
transmission types. There are five categories of fiberglass, namely alkali glass, electrical glass,
electrical glass, and chemical glass1.
Carbon Fibres
Carbon fibres offer good resistance to high temperature, have a low CTE, high tensile strength,
high modulus, and are also conductive. They exists in five different types, namely ultra-high
modulus, low modulus, high modulus, standard modulus, and intermediate modulus. The fibre
tend to get more brittle as the modulus increases, harder to handle and more expensive2.
Aramid
1 Kausar, A.
Strategies in Polymeric Nanoparticles and Hybrid Polymer Nanoparticles. NanoWorld Journal. 2019. Vol 5
2 Kausar, A.
Strategies in Polymeric Nanoparticles and Hybrid Polymer Nanoparticles. NanoWorld Journal. 2019. Vol 5

Polymers 3
The chemical structure of aramid shows the benzene rings of aramid along the polymeric
backbone. Modulus and strength of aramid are very good, shear strength and compression
similar to E glass, UV resistance low, and low density.
Coupling Agents in Composites
Coupling agents are chemicals which improve the interfacial properties of polymers and mineral
fillers. They minimize the interfacial tension which is inconvenient rather than beneficial,
however, simultaneously minimize the agglomeration tendency of particle of filler, hence
improving their polymer molecules accessibility. Adding bi-functional coupling agents to the
composites, commonly tetrasulphide, promotes compatibility of filler-matrix3.
b) Conventional Composites and Nanocomposites
Nanocomposites is a structures having nano-scale recurrence distances between diverse phases
that constitute the material, or multiphase solid material where a single phase has three, two of
one dimensions of less than 100nm. Nanocomposites differ from conventional composites
materials because of the exceptional high aspect ratio of nanocomposites and also the
exceptional volume to surface ratio of the reinforcing phase. The material for reinforcement can
be made up of fibres (such as electrospun or nanotubes fibres) minerals or particles. The area of
the interface between reinforcement phase and matrix is generally an order of magnitude greater
compared to the conventional composites4.
Dispersion of the Reinforcement in Nanoparticles
3 Kausar, A.
Strategies in Polymeric Nanoparticles and Hybrid Polymer Nanoparticles. NanoWorld Journal. 2019. Vol 5
4 Kausar, A.
Strategies in Polymeric Nanoparticles and Hybrid Polymer Nanoparticles. NanoWorld Journal. 2019. Vol 5