Signposts to the future: the intersection of polymer science, polymer processing and product design to meet the demands of society
August 16th, 2000
Keynote paper to Polymer Processing Society Euro 2000 Meeting, Brno, Czech Republic, 16th-18th August 2000
S F Bush
Abstract
This paper will review some of the major developments in polymer engineering over the last 25 years with a view to identifying themes likely to be of importance in the first decade of the new millennium.
The paper will seek to highlight the interactions between the three branches of the field which are used to achieve particular goals: polymer science, polymer processing, and product design. The twin system concepts of order and organisation, as illustrated by molecular sequencing, crystalline architectures, material combinations, processing pathways, geometrical design, will be used to analyse where we are now and where we might go.
The paper will take as its starting point those consumer and societal demands which polymer based products can provide or contribute to. These demands may be classified under the following headings:
- the elimination of routine personal services (e.g. easy-care textile fabrics, dirt-resistant decorative laminates)
- more efficient living space (e.g. foamed insulation)
- fuel efficient and comfortable transportation (e.g. weight reduction through polymeric components)
- increased variety and quality of food (e.g. multilayer film packaging)
- extended leisure facilities (e.g. lightweight equipment)
- upgrading the environment (e.g. reduction of industry-generated wastes)
- improved health-care (e.g. polymer prostheses, implants, drug delivery systems)
- ever more powerful information technology (e.g. compact disks, polymeric display systems)
A requirement which applies to all these demands is for further reduction in the time between recognition of a market need and manufacture of the final product for sale. The future growth of the polymer industry will depend in part on how well it is able to respond to this imperative. On-going developments in rapid prototyping and low cost mould making will continue to make a big contribution to this objective.