Abstract:
Microporous membranes and methods for producing such membranes from ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene are described. The method employs extrusion of a solution of UHMW-PE and porogen through a forming die followed by thermal phase separation of polymer and porogen. Microporous structures are created by removing porogen. Microporous membranes produced include membranes with good permeability to air and water making them particularly useful as filtration media and water-resistant breathable membranes.
Abstract:
Method and apparatus for the production of porous tubing. One extrudes a homogeneous mixture of at least two components, one component a meltable polymer and the other component a liquid inert in relation to the polymer, both components forming a binary system which in liquid aggregate state displays a range of complete miscibility and a range with a miscibility gap, at a temperature above the separation temperature, substantially vertically upwardly using a circular slot nozzle and blowing of gas or dosing-in of liquid into the interior of the nozzle, into a bath, which displays a temperature below the separation temperature, allows the tubing to solidify, and extracts or lixiviates the tubing. Preferred embodiments include the use of water at a temperature from 15.degree. to 90.degree. C. as bath liquid; use of polypropylene as the polymer and N,N-bis-(2-hydroxyethyl)-hexadecylamine as liquid; blowing nitrogen gas into the interior of the nozzle; lixiviating with alcohol; thermally insulating the circular slot nozzle from the bath; having a non-insulated zone between the circular slot and the thermal insulation; the non-insulated zone of the nozzle having a breadth of about 0.5 to 1 mm; using thermal insulation based upon asbestos cement. The apparatus for the production of the porous tubing by extrusion of such homogeneous mixture contains a circular slot nozzle, having a circular slot and provided with means thermally insulating in relation to the bath liquid, displaying a zone without thermal insulation between said circular slot and said thermally means.
Abstract:
A method is disclosed for preparing a porous structure of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene. A heterogeneous composite of the polyethylene and a particular hydrocarbon is heated to a temperature above the melting point of the hydrocarbon but below the melting point of the polyethylene. The composite is then shaped. After such shaping the temperature is then raised to a temperature above the melting point of the polyethylene and maintained until complete fusion of the polyethylene particles occurs. Thereafter the hydrocarbon is extracted from the cooled shaped structure.
Abstract:
Microporous styrene polymers are provided having randomly interconnected open network of irregularly shaped pores whose walls consist of cohered spherical particles of the polymer. These microporous styrene polymers are produced by mixing styrene polymer latex with a water-soluble ether, casting, molding, or impregnating the resulting mixture into a fibrous material, heating same to a temperature of from about 80*C to about 120*C and removing the ether.