Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
The consumption of polysulfones in Western Europe has reached 50%
in electronics/electrotechnique, 23% in transport, 12% in medicine, 7% in
space/aviation and 4% in other areas since 1980 till 2006 [170].
The polysulfones are used for manufacturing of printed-circuit sub-
strates, moving parts of relays, coils, clamps, switches, pipes socles, po-
tentiometers details, bodies of tools, alkaline storage and solar batteries,
cable and capacitor insulation, sets of television and stereo-apparatuses,
radomes. The details under bonnet, the head lights mirrors, the flasks of
hydraulic lifting mechanisms of cars are produced from polysulfones.
They are also met in internal facing of planes cockpits, protective helmets
of pilots and cosmonauts, details of measuring instruments.
The polysulfones are biologically inert and resistant to steam steril-
ization and γ-radiation what avails people to use them in medicine when
implanting artificial lens instead of removed due to a surgical intervention
and when producing medical tools and devices (inhalers bodies, ophthal-
moscopes, etc.).
The various methods of synthesizing of polysulfones have been de-
vised by Russian and abroad scientists within the last 10-15 years.
The bisphenylolpropane (diane), 4,4′-dioxybisphenylsulfone, 4,4′-di-
oxybisphenyl, phenolphthalein, hydroquinone, 4,4′-dioxyphenylsulfonyl
- bisphenyl are used as initial monomers for the synthesis of aromatic
polysulfones. The polycondensation is carried out at temperatures 160-
320 °C with dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylacetamide, N-methylpirrolydone,
dimethylsulfone and bisphenylsulfone being used as solvents [171-174].
The Japanese researchers report [175-179] on the syntheses of aromat-
ic polysulfones via the method of polycondensation in the environment of
polar dissolvent (dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, and dimethyl-
sulfoxide) at 60-400 °C in the presence of alkali metal carbonates within
10 min to 100 h. The synthesized thermoplastic polysulfones possess good
melt fluidity [175].
The durable thermo-stable polysulfones of high melt fluidity can be ob-
tained by means of polycondensation of the mix of phenols of 1,3-bis(4-hy-
droxy-1-isopropylidenephenyl and bisphenol A with 4,4′-dichlordimethylsul-
fone in the presence of anhydrous potassium carbonate in the environment
of dimethylformamide at temperature 166 °C. The solution of the polymer is
condensed in MeOH, washed by water and dried out at 150 °C in vacuum.
The polysulfone has η
limit
= 0.5 dL/g (1% solution in dimethylformamide at
25 °С) [176].
