Polymer engineering

Polymer engineering is generally an engineering field that designs, analyses, and modifies polymer materials. Polymer engineering covers aspects of the petrochemical industry, polymerization, structure and characterization of polymers, properties of polymers, compounding and processing of polymers and description of major polymers, structure property relations and applications. History The word “polymer” was introduced by the Swedish chemist J. J. Berzelius. He considered, for example, benzene (C6H6) to be a polymer of ethyne (C2H2). Later, this definition underwent a subtle modification. The history of human use of polymers has been long since the mid-19th century, when it entered the chemical modification of natural polymers. In 1839, Charles Goodyear found a critical advance in the research of rubber vulcanization, which has turned natural rubber into a practical engineering material. In 1870, J. W. Hyatt uses camphor to plasticize nitrocellulose to make nitrocellulose

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Polymer spiral film gas-liquid heat exchanger for waste heat recovery in exhaust gases

Antoine Breton

In this master thesis report the development of an innovative spiral heat exchanger based on polymer materials is described. Building prototypes, erection of a test bench and firsts tests of the heat exchanger are presented. The heat exchanger prototype survived all tests especially several days in contact with aggressive gases. A facility integrating a Diesel exhaust gases production has been developed to test this heat exchanger design. Performance results obtained during the tests are analysed. Measurement acquisition software developed with Labview was also used. Challenges have been overcome to run the facility in stable conditions in order to obtain reliable measurement. Heat load recovery achieved with the presented heat exchanger is in the range of 1.5 kW thermic but potential heat recovery about 3.5kW might be achievable. Overall heat transfer coefficient is improved compared to other polymer based heat exchanger design. Pressure drop on gas channel is in the range of several mbar and must be further improved and fouling must be minimized. Such a design based on polymer film technology provides better corrosion and chemical resistance compared to conventional metal heat exchangers. Due to the smooth surface of polymer film fouling is reduced. Series production and usage of such heat exchangers would allow operating low temperature waste heat recovery in gases at affordable costs. One promising application is heat recovery in soiled gases in combination with ORC power generation.

2012

Bio-Inspired Fluorine-Free Self-Cleaning Polymer Coatings

Sara Dalle Vacche, Feyza Karasu Kiliç, Yves Leterrier, Alessandra Vitale, Lionel François Wasser

Bio-inspired fluorine-free and self-cleaning polymer coatings were developed using a combination of self-assembly and UV-printing processes. Nasturtium and lotus leaves were selected as natural template surfaces. A UV-curable acrylate oligomer and three acrylated siloxane comonomers with different molecular weights were used. The spontaneous migration of the comonomers towards the polymer-air interface was found to be faster for comonomers with higher molecular weight, and enabled to create hydrophobic surfaces with a water contact angle (WCA) of 105 degrees. The replication fidelity was limited for the nasturtium surface, due to a lack of replication of the sub-micron features. It was accurate for the lotus leaf surface whose hierarchical texture, comprising micropapillae and sub-micron crystalloids, was well reproduced in the acrylate/comonomer material. The WCA of synthetic replica of lotus increased from 144 degrees to 152 degrees with increasing creep time under pressure to 5 min prior to polymerization. In spite of a water sliding angle above 10 degrees, the synthetic lotus surface was self-cleaning with water droplets when contaminated with hydrophobic pepper particles, provided that the droplets had some kinetic energy.

2018

A Facile in Situ and UV Printing Process for Bioinspired Self-Cleaning Surfaces

Sara Dalle Vacche, Marina Aymara González Lazo, Feyza Karasu Kiliç, Ioannis Katrantzis, Yves Leterrier

A facile in situ and UV printing process was demonstrated to create self-cleaning synthetic replica of natural petals and leaves. The process relied on the spontaneous migration of a fluorinated acrylate surfactant (PFUA) within a low-shrinkage acrylated hyperbranched polymer (HBP) and its chemical immobilization at the polymer-air interface. Dilute concentrations of 1 wt. % PFUA saturated the polymer-air interface within 30 min, leading to a ten-fold increase of fluorine concentration at the surface compared with the initial bulk concentration and a water contact angle (WCA) of 108◦. A 200 ms flash of UV light was used to chemically crosslink the PFUA at the HBP surface prior to UV printing with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) negative template of red and yellow rose petals and lotus leaves. This flash immobilization hindered the reverse migration of PFUA within the bulk HBP upon contacting the PDMS template, and enabled to produce texturized surfaces with WCA well above 108◦. The synthetic red rose petal was hydrophobic (WCA of 125◦) and exhibited the adhesive petal effect. It was not superhydrophobic due to insufficient concentration of fluorine at its surface, a result of the very large increase of the surface of the printed texture. The synthetic yellow rose petal was quasi-superhydrophobic (WCA of 143◦, roll-off angle of 10◦) and its self-cleaning ability was not good also due to lack of fluorine. The synthetic lotus leaf did not accurately replicate the intricate nanotubular crystal structures of the plant. In spite of this, the fluorine concentration at the surface was high enough and the leaf was superhydrophobic (WCA of 151◦, roll-off angle below 5◦) and also featured self-cleaning properties.

MDPI2016

Engineering

Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to solve problems, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve systems. Modern engineering

Resin

In polymer chemistry and materials science, a resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of o

Plastic

Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into sol

ME-413: Introduction to additive manufacturing

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MSE-440: Composites technology

The latest developments in processing and the novel generations of organic composites are discussed. Nanocomposites, adaptive composites and biocomposites are presented. Product development, cost analysis and study of new markets are practiced in team work.

MSE-234: Mechanical behaviour of materials

Ce cours est une introduction au comportement mécanique, à l'élaboration, à la structure et au cycle de vie des grandes classes de matériaux de structure (métaux, polymères, céramiques et composites)