Polymer Flashcards
Advantages of burying polymers
1 Cheap
2 Easy to do
Advantages of burning polymers
Heat energy released can be used to generate electricity
Advantages of recycling polymers
1 Produces less CO2 than burning
2 Saves raw material
3 Cuts down on landfill
Disadvantages of burying polymers
1 Plastic decomposes and methane is released
2 Takes up a lot of space
Disadvantages of burning polymers
1 Releases toxic gases which needs to be removed
2 CO2 is released from burning fuels which contributes to global warming
Disadvantages of recycling polymers
1 Plastic can be contaminated
2 Costs of collecting and processing
Explain why polyamides are biodegradable whereas polymers such as poly(ethene) are not.
- Peptide link can be hydrolysed but polyalkenes cannot be hydrolysed
- Polyamides have polar bonds
- Cδ+ is susceptible to attacks by nucleophiles e.g OH-
- poly(ethene) non-polar so it’s not susceptible to attack
Why polyesters and polyamide react with NaOH whereas polyalkenes don’t
- OH- ATTACKS Cð+ in polyamides and polyesters
- Hydrolysis reaction
- Polyalkenes can’t be hydrolysed
- As they are not polar
Why polyamides have a higher MP than polyesters
The hydrogen bonds in the polyamide is stronger than the dipole-dipole forces of attraction
Why do carboxylic acids have higher mp than esters?
- H bonding in carb acid
- These are stronger than D-D and VDW intermolecular forces in ester
Why do polyesters have higher mp than poly(alkene)?
- Dipole-dipole intermolecular forces
- Stronger than van der Waals’ forces in the poly(alkene) QWC mark (1)
- So more energy required to overcome than for vdw
Why are polyamides stronger than polyalkenes
- Hydrogen bonding occurs in polyamides
- No H bond, only Van der waal intermolecular forces present in polyalkenes
- H bond is stronger
Experiment to compare the biodegradability of 2 plastics polyamde and polyalkene
- heat under reflux with aqueous NaOH
- poly(alkene) is non-polar so no reaction (inert)
- polyamide is hydrolysed
