Building Material and Sciences-V

UNIT-2
LECTURE 2 –
HISTORY OF PLASTIC

Ar. Swati Punyal

CONTENT
LECTURE-2

• HISTORY OF PLASTIC

• APPLICATIONS OF THERMOPLASTIC AND THEROSET PLASTICS

• MOUDLING COMPOUNDS

• ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

PLASTIC
BOTTLES ARE
TURNED INTO
AFFORDABLE
HOUSES IN
NIGERIA
 HISTORY
• The development of plastics has
evolved from the use of natural
plastic materials to the use of
chemically modified, natural
materials and finally to
completely synthetic molecules.

• Early plastics were bio-derived

materials such as egg and blood
proteins, which are organic
polymers.

• Although hard plastics like

Bakelite were used as early as
1909, it wasn’t really big until
later.
 HISTORY
• 1900 - 1929
Early Synthetics, Casein,
Bakelite, Ureas
• 1930s
Plastics as an Industry
• 1940s - Plastics in War
• 1950s - Textiles,
Fashion, Toys, Domestic
uses
• 1960s & 70s - Colour
and Design
• 1980s & 90s - High
Performance Plastics
• 2000 - 2010 - Nano
Technology, Airbus
A380, iPod
• 2010 + - Plastics fit for
the Future
https://www.plasticseurope.org/en/a
bout-plastics/what-are-
plastics/history
PRODUCTS AND
USES OF
THERMOPLASTIC
PRODUCTS AND
USES OF
THERMOSET
PLASTIC
MOULDING COMPOUNDS
Some of the moulding components are

• Catalyst
• Fillers
• Hardeners
• Lubricants
• Pigments
• Plasticizers
• Solvents
 MOULDING COMPOUNDS
CATALYST
• These components are added to assist and accelerate the hardening of
resins.
• For instance, the ester acts as catalyst for urea formaldehyde.
• They are used for quick and complete polymerization
 MOULDING COMPOUNDS
FILLERS
• The fillers are inert materials and they
impart strength, hardness and other
properties to the plastic.
• The choice of filler should be carefully
made.
• It should be confirmed that the
addition of a filler does not have
detrimental effect on other properties
of plastic.
• The filler may be used in the following
forms-
• Fibrous fillers
• Laminated fillers
• Power fillers
 MOULDING COMPOUNDS
HARDENERS
• These compounds are added to increase the hardness of resin.
• For instance, the hexamethylene tetramine acts as hardeners
for phenol formaldehyde.
 MOULDING COMPOUNDS
LUBRICANTS
• The lubricants are applied on the
surface of moulds so that the articles of
plastic do not stick to the moulds.

• The application of lubricants on surface

of moulds allows easy removal of
articles of plastic from the moulds.

• The commonly used lubricants are

graphite, parafine, wax, etc..
 MOULDING COMPOUNDS
PIGMENTS
• The addition of dyes and pigments helps in two ways, namely, they act as
fillers an they impart desired colour to the plastic.
• They should be durable and adequately fast to light.
• The commonly used pigments are zinc oxide, barytes, etc.
• The selection of pigments should be done in such a way that their
addition does not alter or affect the other properties of plastic.
 MOULDING COMPOUNDS
PLASTICIZERS
• The plasticizers are the organic compounds which are oily in nature and
low molecular weight.
• They are used to separate the polymer chain by a greater distance to
make the crystallization difficult.
• These components are added to improve the plasticity and to impart
softness to the plastic.
• They gives flexibility to the material and act like a lubricant.
• The addition of plasticizers facilitates the moulding process of plastic
articles.
• The commonly used plasticizers in plastic are camphor, triacetin, tributyl
phosphate, etc.
• The properties of plasticizers in plastic should not exceed 10% otherwise
strength of plastic will decrease.
 MOULDING COMPOUNDS
SOLVENTS
• These components are added to dissolve the plasticizers.
• For instance the alcohol is added in cellulose nitrate plastics to dissolve
camphor.
FABRICATION

Following are the process involved in the fabrication of articles of

plastics:
• Blowing
• Calendering
• Casting
• Laminating
• Moulding
 FABRICATION
Blowing
• This method of lubrication of articles of plastic is
more or less the same as the one employed in the
glass industry.
• A lump of plastic material is taken and by blowing, it
is converted into hollow plastic articles such as jars,
bottles, toys, etc.
FABRICATION
Calendering
• In this process the plastic material is allowed to pass between the
cylindrical rollers.
• The process is used to prepare plain flat sheets of plastics.
• The roller may be provided with artistic designs which will appear on the
finished product.
FABRICATION
Casting
• This process is similar in principle to that
of metal casting.
• The resin is heated and when it is in
plastic form, it is poured into the mould.
• The curing of articles is then done either
with or without the application of heat.
• During curing the low pressure may be
applied if necessary.
• This process is used to prepare plastics of
beautiful colours and it is most suitable for
cellulose plastics.
FABRICATION
Laminating
• In this process, the
thermosetting resin are just
applied on sheets of paper,
asbestos, cloth, wood, glass,
fibre, etc. and they are
subjected to heavy pressure by
allowing them to pass through
rollers to form plastic laminates.
• The thickness of sheets varies
from 0.12 mm to 15 mm
• Due to the pleasing finished
surface, they are used for
ornamental and decorative
purposes.
FABRICATION
Laminating
FABRICATION
Moulding
• This is the most commonly adopted process for the fabrication of
plastic articles.
• The general process consist in placing the raw materials in a mould
and then heating it.
• The moulding can be done by various methods:
• Compression moulding
• Extrusion moulding
• Injection moulding
• Jet moulding
• Transfer moulding

NOTE: The choice of moulding method will depend on the article to be

prepared.
FABRICATION
Moulding
FABRICATION
Moulding
ASSIGNMENT-6
• Describe the properties of Acrylics, Nylon, PVC,
Bakelite, Polythene, polycarbonate, poly ethylene,
neoprene, EPDM rubber, glass fiber reinforced plastic
in construction industry with its properties.

• Explain the Moulding Compounds of Plastics and

Fabrication methods.