PolysulfoneDidit Eko Prasetyo

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PolysulfonePolysulfones are a family of thermoplastic polymers. These polymers are known for their toughness and stability at high temperatures.

Polysulfone is a semitransparent, heat-resistant, thermoplastic offering excellent mechanical, electrical and chemical resistance

Polysulfones were introduced in 1965 by Union Carbide.

ProductionA typical polysulfone is produced by the reaction of a diphenol and bis(4-chlorophenyl)sulfone, forming a polyether by elimination of sodium chloride:

n HOC6H4OH + n (ClC6H4)2SO2 + n Na2CO3 →

[OC6H4OC6H4SO2C6H4]n + 2n NaCl + n H2O + n CO2.

PropertiesThese polymers are rigid, high-strength, and transparent, retaining these properties between −100 °C and 150 °C. It has very high dimensional stability; the size change when exposed to boiling water or 150 °C air or steam generally falls below 0.1%. Its glass transition temperature is 185 °C.

Polysulfone is highly resistant to mineral acids, alkali, and electrolytes, in pH ranging from 2 to 13. It is resistant to oxidizing agents, therefore it can be cleaned by bleaches. It is also resistant to surfactants and hydrocarbon oils. It is not resistant to low-polar organic solvents (e.g. ketones and chlorinated hydrocarbons) and aromatic hydrocarbons. Mechanically, polysulfone has high compaction resistance, recommending its use under high pressures. It is also stable in aqueous acids and bases and many non-polar solvents; however, it is soluble in dichloromethane and methylpyrrolidone.[1]

Properties

Disadvantages

- Attacked by some solvents- Poor weatherability- Subject to stress cracking- Processing difficulties- Increased costs

Application

Medical/Healthcare Applications (52), Electrical/Electronic Applications (50), Aerospace Applications (44), Food Service Applications (28), Electrical Parts (22), Automotive Applications (20), Engineering Parts (19), Appliance Components (18), Aircraft Applications (18), Appliances (18), 63 More..

ApplicationPolysulfone has one of the highest service temperatures among all melt-processable thermoplastics. Its resistance to high temperatures gives it a role of a flame retardant, without compromising its strength that usually results from addition of flame retardants. Its high hydrolysis stability allows its use in medical applications requiring autoclave and steam sterilization. However, it has low resistance to some solvents and undergoes weathering; this weathering instability can be offset by adding other materials into the polymer.

Polysulfone allows easy manufacturing of membranes, with reproducible properties and controllable size of pores down to 40 nanometres. Such membranes can be used in applications like hemodialysis, waste water recovery, food and beverage processing, and gas separation. These polymers are also used in the automotive and electronic industries. Filter cartridges made from polysulfone membranes offer extremely high flow rates at very low differential pressures when compared with nylon or polypropylenemedia. Additionally, filter cartridges made from polysulfone can be sterilized with in-line steam or in the autoclave without loss of integrity up to 50 times.

ApplicationPolysulfone can be reinforced with glass fibers. The resulting composite material has twice the tensile strength and three time increase of its Young's modulus.

Polysulfone is used as a dielectric in capacitors.

Polysulfone is often used as a copolymer. Recently, sulfonated polyethersulfones (SPES) have been studied as a promising material candidate among many other aromatic hydrocarbon-based polymers for highly durable proton-exchange membranes in fuel cells.

Polysulfone is used as filtration media. The pore size can be very small, down to 0.2 µm or less for use in filter sterilization.

Polysulfone was the primary component of the gold-plated lunar extravehicular visor assembly, the iconic gold-film visor portion of the Apollo space-suits worn by Apollo astronauts during their lunar excursions

Manufacturers

Literature

✘ http://plastics.ulprospector.com/generics/44/polysulfone-psu

✘ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysulfone

✘ http://www.aetnaplastics.com/products/d/Polysulfone

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