From: Johnny Carwash (carwash@infobahnos.com)
Date: Tue Mar 11 1997 - 04:14:39 MST
>Is Kevlar similar to polymers such as cellulose, proteins and silk, or those
>synthesized in laboratories and sold commercially, such as plastics and
>synthetic fibers? What I like about polymers is that they consist of up to
>millions of repeated linked units, each a relatively light and simple molecule.
>But with polymers we are getting into the "rubber" concept, which I would
>rather steer clear of. First, it is over done, second it looks cheap, and
>third its passe'. I'm more interested in what is possible and what serves a
>multiple-purpose: functionality, design and bio-tech. Especially as
>prosthetics become more and more a part of our physiology.
I'd say that Kevlar has the most in common with artificial fibres like Nylon
and Orlon. I've actually made Nylon in the lab, and I wouldn't call it
anything like rubber. In fact, polymers are everywhere. Everything from hair
to vegetables are polymeric, and there are many inorganic polymers. Nylon
made in the lab (and that's the only way to make it) starts out as a goo
that must be pulled like toffee and dried as a monofilament. Ostensibly the
individual molecules could be linked at a nanoscale level by an assembler of
some sort. Polymer just means a string of identical (or a pattern)
molecules. The only connotations with rubber come from polymers not being
used for much else in consumer technology.
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