About us

We are a group of students of age 16 who have researched on Jurong Island, as well as, 2 useful chemicals (Cellulose acetate and polyvinylchloride) which have widespread applications in our daily life.

The purpose of putting up our research on the internet is to increase the awareness of students (of age 10-16) about the Chemistry of Jurong Island. We hope that you will learn more the Chemistry of Jurong Island after browsing through this website and have greater interest in it.

Our research on the 2 chemicals is available under the "Contents" section at the sidebar (left). You may visit the website on Jurong Island for information regarding it. Or you may go to our Mainpage. The links to these websites are under the "Links" section.

For more information regarding Jurong Island, you may visit the sources of our research, under the "Credits" section. Enjoy! (:

Production of Cellulose Acetate

Cellulose Acetate is...

• made from cotton and wood
• produced from processing pulp in three main stages; activation, acetylation and hydrolysis. The pulp is processed using acetic anhydride to form cellulose acetate flake from which products are made.
• Chemical and word equations of the production process:

1. [C6H7O2(OH)3]n+ 3n(CH3CO)2O ------> [C6H7O2(OOCCH3)3]n + 3nCH3COOH
Cellulose + Acetic Anhydride(with the catalyst:H2SO4)------> Cellulose Triacetate +Acetic Acid

2. [C6H7O2(OOCCH3)3]n ------> [C6H7O2 (OH) (OCOCH3)2]n
Cellulose Triacetate------> Cellulose Diacetate/Secondary Cellulose Acetate

Glossary:
Activation is the process whereby something is prepared or excited for a subsequent reaction.
Acetylation introduces an acetyl functional group into an organic compound.
Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction or process in which a chemical compound reacts with water, and is used to break down polymers.
Polymers: numerous natural and synthetic compounds with repeated link units.

Properties of Cellulose Acetate

Properties of Cellulose Acetate are as follows:

• good and high transparency
• toughness
• a natural feel and comfort
• glossiness
• water absorbency
• biodegradability
• semi-permeability

In many respects, cellulose acetate is similar to fossil fuel based polymers and therefore possesses the potential to replace such polymers in certain applications due to its sustainable and environmentally friendly properties.

Products of Cellulose Acetate

Cellulose acetate produces cellulose acetate plastics which are involved in the manufacture of...

• cigarette filters:

Source of picture: www.taylorgifts.com

• textile fibers:

Source: http://www.alibaba.com/catalog/10970124/Cellulose_Fiber.html

• spectacle frames

Source: www.eyewearsource.com/frame.htm

• photographic and packaging films



• LCD (Liquid Crystal) displays

Source: www.iodata.jp/press/photo/lcd.htm



• tool handles
  
• medical applications

Manufacture of Cellulose Acetate Products

Spectacle frames: For Spectacle frames, they were cut out of sheets of cellulose acetate. As the material has been superseded (replaced) by injection moulding with more modern thermoplastics, some up-market spectacles are still made in this way. This is most often the case when colour blends/effect cannot be produced by injection moulding.

Fabrics: The cellulose acetate fibers are dry spun from a cellulose acetate spinning solution containing cellulose acetate and acetone with other optional additives such as titanium dioxide.
Glossary:
Injection molding-a manufacturing technique for making parts from thermoplastic material in production.
Additive-a substance that is added to improve or alter the general quality of the substance that it is being added to.

Production of Polyvinylchloride

Introduction: Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a thermoplastic and is produced by polymerization of the monomer vinyl chloride. . It is produced in several steps.

1. Vinyl chloride is manufactured industrially from ethylene and chlorine. In the presence of iron(III) chloride as a catalyst, the compounds react to produce ethylene dichloride. CH2=CH2 + Cl2 → ClCH2CH2Cl
2. The reaction is then conducted in a bath of boiling ethylene dichloride. The reaction is known as thermal cracking or pyrolysis. When heated to 500 °C at 15–30 atmospheric (1.5 to 3 MPa) pressure, the ethylene dichloride decomposes to produce vinyl chloride and hydrogen chloride. ClCH2CH2Cl → CH2=CHCl + HCl
3. The vinyl chloride is then isolated.
4. Then, the hydrogen chloride produced is mixed with oxygen and reacted with ethylene on a copper(II) chloride catalyst to produce more ethylene dichloride. CH2=CH2 + 2 HCl + ½ O2 → ClCH2CH2Cl + H2O
5. Finally, Polyvinyl chrloride (PVC) is made by addition polymerization of the vinyl chloride, linking the molecules of a simple substance (monomer) together to form large molecules, without forming any other products.

Glossary:
Polymerization: The bonding of two or more monomers to form a polymer
Monomer: A molecule of low molecular weight capable of reacting with identical or different molecules of low molecular weight to form a polymer.

Properties of Polyvinylchloride

Properties of Polyvinylchloride are as follows:

• heavy, stiff, ductile and medium strong amorphous (transparent) material
• can be a flexible or rigid material that is chemically nonreactive
• easily machined, heat formed, welded, and even solvent cemented
• can also be machined using standard metal working tools and finished to close tolerances and finishes without great difficulty
• accepts paint and performs well under most silk screening processes
• PVC resins are normally mixed with other additives such as impact modifiers and stabilizers, providing hundreds of PVC based materials with a variety of engineering properties
• By adding softeners a range of softer materials can be achieved, ranging from a flexible to an almost rubber-like elastic soft material. Softeners also help to increase the manufacturability
• has brilliant resistance to acids and bases, but is affected by some solvents
• Soft PVC is exceptionally resistant to most chemicals