Twaron

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Twaron is the brandname of Teijin Twaron for a para-aramid.

Contents

[edit] History

Twaron is a heat-resistant and strong synthetic fiber, developed in early 1970s by the Dutch company AKU, later Enka (Glanzstoff), later Akzo Nobel, but since 2000 owned by the Teijin Group. The company is based in Arnhem, The Netherlands and main product facilities for Twaron are in Emmen en Delfzijl. In 1976, the first pilot plant for Twaron was built, and by 1985 five plants were operational on two sites. Twaron is a para-aramid and is used in automotive, construction, sport, aerospace, military and industry applications, e.g., "bullet-proof" body armor, fabric, and as an asbestos substitute. In 2007 Teijin Twaron expands for the fourth time in six years [1].

[edit] Production

[edit] Polymer preparation

Twaron is a p-phenylene terephtalamide (PpPTA), the simplest form of the AABB para polyaramide. PpPTA is a product of p-phenylene diamine (PPD) and terephtaloyl dichloride (TDC). Twaron used N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) and a co-solvent with an ionic component (Calcium Cloride (CaCl2) to occupy the hydrogen bonds of the amide groups to dissolve the aromatic polymer. Prior to the invention of this process by Leo Vollbracht, working at the Dutch chemical firm Akzo Nobel, no practical means of dissolving the polymer was known. The use of this system led to a patent war between Akzo Nobel and Dupont as Dupont used the hazardous HMPT (hexamethyl fosfortriamide). Despite heavy research Dupont now also uses the Akzo Nobel patent to use the less hazardous NMP in the Kevlar process.

[edit] Spinning

After the production of the Twaron polymer in Delfzijl, the polymer is brought to Emmen, where fibers are produced by spinning the dissolved polymer into a solid fiber from a liquid chemical blend. Polymer solvent for spinning PPTA is generally 100% (water free) sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The polymer is dissolved by mixing frozen sulphuric acid in powder form with the polymer in powder form and gently heating the mixture. This process, which differs from the more difficult Dupont process, was invented by Henri Lammers and patented by Akzo Nobel.

[edit] Major industrial uses

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ International Fiber Journal (2007). "Teijin Launches Fourth Production Expansion in Six Years". Fiber Journal (February): 20. 
  • JWS Hearle. High-performance fibres. Woodhead Publishing Ltd., Abington, UK - The Textile Institute. ISBN 1855735393. 
  • Doetze J. Sikkema (2002). "Manmade fibers one hundred years: Polymers and polymer design". J Appl Polym Sci, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (83): 484-488. 
  • L. Vollbracht and T.J. Veerman, US Patent 4308374 (1976)

[edit] External links


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