COMPOUNDING OF

PLASTICS
In order to impart certain
properties to finished product,
certain additives are added to
plastic before moulding. These
ingredients either discharge
useful function during moulding
or imparts some useful property
to the finished product. This
process is called compounding of
plastics.
 The various ingredients added during
compounding are:
 1) Binders
 2) Fillers
 3) Plasticizers
 4) Dyes & Pigments
 5) Lubricants
 6) Catalyst
 7) Stabilizers
 Functions of various ingredients

 1) Binders:
 To hold the other constituents of the
plastic together.
 It comprises of 30-100% of the plastics.
 It also determines the type of the
treatment (molding technique) needed
to mould the articles from the plastic
 There are two types of binders
thermosetting & thermoplastics
 2) Fillers:
 A) They reduce shrinkage &
brittleness of plastics during setting.
 B) They reduce the cost of the
plastic.
 C) They impart better tensile
strength, opacity, finish &
workability.
 D) Fillers are added to impart special
characters to finished product.
 Barium salts to make plastic X-ray
impervious.
 Asbestos provides corrosion & heat
resistance.
 Corborundum, mica, quartz provide
extra hardness.
 Addition of carbon black increases
tensile strength.
 Shredded textiles increase tensile
strength.
 Other materials like cotton corn,
husks, graphite, paper pulp, metal
oxides, metal powders etc also are
used as fillers.
 Plasticizers:
 1) To impart plasticity & flexibility so
as to reduce the temperature &
pressure required for moulding.
 2) They reduce or neutralize
intermolecular forces of attraction in
the resin molecules.
 3) They impart greater freedom of
movement between polymeric
macromolecules of the resin.
 4) They reduce strength & decrease
chemical resistance.
 Examples of plasticizers:

 Vegetable oils, esters of oleic, steric

& phthalic acids, tributyl phosphate,
triphenyl phosphate etc.
 Dyes & Pigments:
 Organic dyes as well as inorganic
pigments are used for imparting
colour to plastics.
 Carbon black : Black
 Calcium carbonate: White
 Chromium trioxide : green
 Ferric Oxide : red
 Antimony sulphide : Crimson red
 Lubricants:
 These additives give good finish to
plastic material.
 They improve flow characteristics &
reduce friction in the processing
machines.
 They make molding of plastics easier
& provides glossy finish to the
products.
 E.g waxes, oils, stearates, oleates,
soaps etc.
 Catalyst
 They are used to accelerate
polymerization reaction.
 In thermosetting plastics , they are
added to accelerate polymerization of
fusible resin during molding process to
crosslinked infusible form.
 E.g hydrogen peroxide, benzoyl
peroxide, metals like Ag, Cu & Pb,
metalic oxide like zinc oxide etc.
 Stabilizers:

 They are added to plastic to prevent

their degradation.
 To improve their thermal stability
during processing.
 For example, during moulding of
vinyl chloride & vinylidine chloride
polymers, heat stabilizers are used as
these polymers show tendency to
undergo decomposition &
discolouration at molding
temperature.
 MOULDING (FABRICATION) OF
PLASTICS

 The technique of giving desired shape to

the plastic with the help of a mould is
called fabrication.
 This technique involves application of heat
& pressure.
 It is applicable to both types of resin
thermoplastic & thermosetting resin.
 There are four techniques used for
moulding.

 1) Compression moulding

 2) Injection moulding

 3) Transfer moulding

 4) Powder extrusion moulding

Compression moulding

In this method , plastic powder to be

moulded is mixed with filler & other
ingredients & then placed in the mould.
The mould is closed under low pressure.
Then it is heated with simultaneous
application of the pressure according to
specification, 100-500 Kg/cm2 press & 100-
200oC temperature.
The cavities get filled up with fluidized
plastic.
 Contd.
 Once the moulding is over, the article is
withdrawn after cooling.
 Finally curing is done either by heating
(in thermosetting) & by cooling (in case of
thermoplastics).
 After curing is over, the moulded article is
taken out by opening the mould parts.
 Articles like door handles, handles of
electric iron, bottle caps, screw caps are
made by this method.
COMPRESSION MOULDING
 COMPRES SION MOULDING
Mea
Advantages
Faster rate of production

Economic Process sured quan

f Fastity of plastic ingredients in proper
Disadvantages
prAoportions is filled between the two
half pieces of mould.
Heat & pressure is applied according to
specifications.
Intricate shapes can’t be made
The cavities get filled with fluidized plastic.
Two halves are closed very slowly
Loss of plastic
Finally powder
curing isduring
done by heating
moulding. & by cooling (thermoplastic)
(thermosetting)
Moulded article is taken out by opening the
mould parts.
Blisters are formed due to which
finishing is required
 POWDER EXTRUSION MOULDING
(FOR THERMOPLASTIC)

 This is mainly used for making articles with

uniform cross section area like tubes, rods,
stripes, insulated electric cables.

 Thermoplastic ingredients are heated

to plastic condition & then pushed by
means of screw conveyor into a die
having the shape of the article to be
manufactured.
 Here the plastic article gets cooled due to
atmospheric exposure or by air jets.
 A long conveyor carries away
continuously the cooled product.
POWDER EXTRUSION MOULDING
 INJECTION MOULDING
 Plastic powder is fed into a heated
cylinder from where it is injected
at a controlled rate into tightly
locked mould by screw
arrangement.
 The mould is kept cold to allow the
hot plastic to cure & become rigid.
 Cured article is taken out by
opening mould parts.
 It is applicable for thermoplastics.
INJECTION MOULDING
 Advantages of Injection moulding

 High speed production

 Low loss of material
 Low finishing cost
 Disadvantages
 DISADVANTAGES
 As large number of cavities cannot be
filled simultaneously so there is
limitation of design of articles
TRANSFER MOULDING ( application to
thermosetting

 The moulding powder is placed in

heated chamber maintained at the
minimum temperature at which the
moulding powder just begins to
become plastic.

 The plastic material is then injected

thro’ an orifice into the mould by a
plunger working at high pressure.
 Due to great friction produced at the
orifice the temperature of plastic
increase to such an extent that it
become liquid & flows into mould.

 The mould is maintained at high
temperature to cure the article.

The moulded article is then ejected

mechanically.
TRANSFER MOULDING
 ADVANTAGES
Intricate shapes can be produced
unlike in case of compression
moulding.

Mechanical strength of article is more.

Finishing cost of article is eliminated,as

blistering is eliminated due to high
temp.

Article free from flow marks is

obtained.
 GLASS TRANSITION TEMPERATURE (Tg)

 Amorphous polymers don’t have

melting point but softening point.
 At low temperature, polymer
exists as glassy material. As the
temperature of polymer is
increased, it eventually softens &
become more flexible.
 The temp, at which it becomes
soft & rubbery is called the glass
transition temperature.
 A) Amorphous polymers

 Glass → Rubber → Gum → Liquid

 ---------------------------------------------
-------→
 Tg
Increasing temp
 At glass transition temperature, the
internal energy of the molecules of
the polymer increases to such an
extent that the chain segments of the
polymer molecules starts leaving
their lattice sites
 Factors affecting Tg :
 The value of Tg depends on the mobility
of the polymer chain - the more
immobile the chain, the higher the value
of Tg34.
 In particular, anything that restricts
rotational motion within the chain
should raise Tg.
 A polymer chain that can move easily will
change from a glass to a rubber at a low
temperature.
 If the polymer chains don't move as easily,
then it will require a relatively high
temperature to change the compound into a
rubbery form.
 Chain StiffnessStiffening groups in the
polymer chain reduce the flexibility of the
chain and raise the value of Tg .
 poly(ethylene adipate) Tg =-70oC

 poly(ethylene terephthalate) Tg = 69oC


 Intermolecular forces
 Stronger intermolecular forces lead to a
higher Tg. PVC has stronger intermolecular
forces than polypropylene because of the
dipole-dipole forces from the C-Cl bond.

 Polypropylene Tg = -20oC

 Poly(vinyl chloride)Tg = 81oC

 Pendant GroupsThe influence of pendant
groups on the glass transition temperature
is somewhat more complicated.
 1. Bulky pendant groups, such as a
benzene ring, can catch on neighboring
chains like a "fish hook" and restrict
rotational freedom. This increases Tg.

 PolypropyleneTg = -20oC

 PolystyreneTg = 100oC
 Cross-Linking
 The presence of cross-links between chains
restricts rotational motion and raises Tg.

 Plasticizers are low molecular weight

compounds added to plastics to increase their
flexibility and workability. They weaken the
intermolecular forces between the polymer
chains and decrease Tg. Plasticizers often are
added to semi-crystalline polymers to lower
the value of Tg below room temperature. In
this case the amorphous phase of the polymer
will be rubbery at normal temperatures,
reducing the brittleness of the material.
 Viscoelasticity
 All polymers are hard rigid solids at low
temperature & changes from the solid ti liquid
state either by melting (crystalline polymers) or
by softening (amorphous polymers) at high
temperature.
 Amorphous polymers with random
arrangements of their molecular chain soften &
become rubber like at a particular temperature.
The rubber like polymer softens to viscous liquid
as temperature is increased further. The
changes from solid to rubbery polymer to
viscous liquid are reversible.
 Thus this behaviour of the polymer to exhibit
different range of viscosities with variation in
temperature & the rate of change of
temperatures is known as viscoelasticity.
 Conducting polymers
 Conducting polymers (CPs) are a kind of
materials with π-conjugated polymeric chains, so
they are also called as conjugated polymers.
 polymers with loosely held electrons in their
backbones can be called conducting polymers.
These atoms have always a conjugated backbone
with a high degree of π-orbital overlap.
 The first polymer with significant conductivity
synthesized was polyacetylene (polyethyne).
 Types of conducting polymers

 1) Intrinsically conducting polymers

 2) Extrinsically conducting polymers

 i) Conductive elements filled polymers
 ii) Blended conducting polymers

 3) Doped conducting polymers

 i) p-doped polymers
 ii) n-doped polymers

 4) Co-ordination conducting polymers

 Intrinsically conducting polymers
 It is a polymer with conjugated ∏
electrons in its backbone.
Overlapping of orbitals over the
entire backbone results in the
formation of valence bands as well as
conduction bands.
 In an electric field, conjugated ∏
electron of the polymer get excited &
hence can be transported through the
solid polymeric material. E.g
 Polyacetylene, polyaniline,
polypyrrole etc.
 Extrinsically conducting polymers
 These polymer conductivity is due to
externally added ingredients in them.
 They are of two types :
 a) Conductive elements filled polymers :
polymers are filled with conducting
elements like carbon black or metal oxides.
Along with conductivity these polymers are
low in cost, light in weight, mechanically
strong & durable.
b) Blended conducting polymer
It is a polymer obtained by blending a
conventional polymer with conducting
polymers. Such polymer possess better
physical, chemical & mechanical properties.
 Doped conducting polymers:
 The conductivity of intrinsically
conducting polymers can be increased
by creating positive or negative
charge on them by oxidation or
reduction reactions known as doping.
 a) p-doping
 + ve charge is generated in ICP by
using dopants I2, Br2, AsF5,
PF6,naphthylamine etc.
 2(C2H2)n + 3I2 → 2[(C2H2)n+]I3-
 N-doping
 In this intrinsically conducting polymer is
treated with Lewis base where reduction
takes place & negative charges are created
on the polymer backbone.
 Commonly used n-dopants are Lithium(Li),
Sodium(Na), Calcium(Ca) etc.
 -
 (-CH=CH-CH=CH-)n + B → -CH=CH-CH=CH-
 │
 B+
 Coordination conducting polymers
 It is a charge transfer complex
containing polymer obtained by
combining a metal atom with a poly
dentate ligand.
 Applications of conducting polymers

 1) In rechargeable light weight

batteries.
 2) In wiring in aircrafts & aerospace
components.
 3)In electronic devices such as
transistors & diodes & in
telecommunication systems.
 4) In photovoltaic devices .
 5) In antistatic clothing
 6) In molecular switches & wires
 Polymers in medicines & surgery
 Characteristics of biomedical
polymers :
 1) It should be bio compatible
 2) It should be fabricated into the
desired shape without being
degraded.
 3) It should be easily sterlized with
no alteration in properties.
 4) They should have optimum
physical & chemical properties
 5) They should not destroy cellular
elements of blood, enzyme or produce
toxic or allergic reactions.
 Applications of biomedical polymers

Polymer Applications
Polyethylene Disposable syringe
Polypropylene Heart walls, blood filters
Polyvinyl chloride Disposable syringe
PMMA Contact lenses
Polyalkyl sulphone Membrane oxygenator

Silicone Rubber Heart walls, drain tubes

polyurethane Heart wall, blood filters, artificial heart
Synthesis of polymethyl methacrylate

C
 Properties of PMMA:
 1) It is colourless, transparent, hard & fairly
rigid material.
 2) It has high optical transparency
 3) It has high resistance to sunlight & ability
of transmitting light accurately.
 4) It has low chemical resistance to acids &
alkalies.
Uses:
1) It is used for making contact lenses,
artificial eyes, dentures, wind screens,
TV screens etc.
2) 2) For making aircraft light fixtures,
cockpit canopies etc.
 Synthesis of Kevlar

P-amino aniline
Terephthalic acid
dichloride
Kevlar
 Properties of Kevlar
 1) It is exceptionally strong ( Five
times stronger than steel.)
 2) It has high heat stability &
flexibility.
 3) It is more rigid than nylon.
Uses:
1) It is used in the aerospace & aircraft
industries.
2) It is used in car parts(tyres & brakes
etc.)
3) It is used in ropes, cables, bullet
proof vests, motor cycle helmets etc.