Descripción del proyecto
El agua supercrítica podría revolucionar la producción de espuma de polimetilmetacrilato
El proyecto Siphony, financiado con fondos europeos, es una colaboración interdisciplinar entre la ciencia de los polímeros y la termodinámica y la ingeniería de procesos de fluidos supercríticos cuyo objetivo es emplear agua supercrítica en el proceso de formación de espuma de polimetilmetacrilato. El agua supercrítica exhibe propiedades únicas que brindan prestaciones prometedoras al proceso, especialmente su alta eficiencia como disolvente, estabilidad, baja toxicidad e inocuidad ambiental. Junto con el dióxido de carbono, aumentará la eficiencia del hinchamiento químico del plástico e incrementará aproximadamente seis veces la energía termodinámica de explosión en comparación con el empleo individual de dióxido de carbono. El proceso propuesto tiene como objetivo crear un polímero nanocelular excepcionalmente blando con una densidad aproximadamente diez veces menor que pueda cambiar el enfoque de la industria del aislamiento para desarrollar productos ecológicos más livianos.
Objetivo
Siphony is a disruptive project created from a Breakthrough Materials Coalition between CellMat Laboratories and Dr. Danilo Cantero. This is a multidisciplinary venture involving the Physics and Chemistry of polymers and the Thermodynamics and Process Engineering of Supercritical Fluids. Sub and Supercritical water will be annex to the use of carbon dioxide in the foaming of Polymethyl methacrylate. The innovative and never seen before addition of sub and supercritical water will create benefits in the chemical swelling of the polymer and the addition of thermodynamic energy of explosion, approximately 5-6 times more than carbon dioxide itself. With this, it is expected to achieve the extra hit of power and material softening to reach an outstanding nano cellular polymer of very low density (10 times density reduction compared to initial polymer) and high pores density (>1013 pores/cm3). This kind of materials has outstanding properties as insulators (thermal and acoustic) in many fields of the industry. This proposed invention by employing Siphony process will create an exceptional rated polymer that will revolutionize the insulation industry by dropping insulators weight and increasing the heat transference resistant. Siphony also involves the application of the revolutionary concept invented by Danilo Cantero: the Continuous Sudden Expansion Reactor. The application of this technology to the foaming process of PMMA will bring unconventional properties to the product as well as to the process of foaming. This technology has demonstrated accurate control of residence time and temperature in a continuous mode. In this project, the technology will be redesigned to maximize the water/carbon dioxide dissolution in PMMA and the water/carbon dioxide expansion by sudden decompression in an isenthalpic stage. Also, the high level of shear that is incorporated by this process will be optimized to generate the best performing combination of PMMA particle size and cells size.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
47002 VALLADOLID
España