...Chemistry Research Assignment Part A – The Production of Materials: 1. Use available evidence to gather and present data from secondary sources and analyse progress in the recent development and use of a named biopolymer. This analysis should name the specific enzyme(s) used or organism used to synthesise the material and an evaluation of the use or potential use of the polymer produced related to its properties. a) Name a biopolymer (eg. Biopol) outlining how it’s produced. Biopol: Made in the 1960s In an American company. This biopolymer is a PHA and is produced industrially by growing it in tanks with bacteria such as Alcaligenes eutrophus along with a carbon based food source. It is then isolated from the tank to be purified by various methods such as dissolving the PHB in trichloromethane and then removing all its waste to create Biopol. b) Construct a table, relating its uses/possible uses to its properties. Uses Properties related Act as a carrier for slowly releasing insecticides and herbicides and fertilizers Biodegradable – able to break down in the natural environment Use as containers for plastics as well as shampoo containers and cosmetics insoluble in water and relatively high tensile strength Medical applications Biocompatibility and biodegradable Non toxic c) Evaluate the importance of this biopolymer now and its potential for use in the future based on part b. Biopol is quite an important biopolymer as a future resource because firstly, there...
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...http://www.kewpid.com 1. Fossil fuels provide both energy and raw materials such as ethylene, for the production of other substances 1) Construct word and balanced chemical equations of chemical reactions as they are encountered • Methane + oxygen carbon dioxide + water • CH4(g) + 2O2(g) CO2(g) + 2H2O(l) 2) Identify the industrial source of ethylene from the cracking of some of the fractions from refining of petroleum Generally, demand for petrol exceeds supply produced from fractional distillation of crude oil. Thus, oil refineries increase the proportion of the desired hydrocarbon (ie ethylene) by converting lower demand fractions. This process is called catalytic cracking. Catalytic Cracking: process where high molecular weight fractions from crude oil are broken into lower molecular weight compounds. 3) Identify that ethylene, because of the high reactivity of its double bond, is readily transformed into many suitable products The two bonds of ethylene are not identical. The second bond (pi-bond) is weaker than the first bond (sigma-bond). Thus, only a small amount of energy is needed to enter the system in order to convert a double bond into a single bond. This results in ethylene’s high reactivity. 4) Identify that ethylene serves as a monomer from which polymers are made • • • Ethylene is polymerised to polyethylene High pressures produce soft, low density polyethylene, consisting of tangled chains (with molecular masses 100,000) 5) Identify polyethylene as an addition...
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...Contextual Outline Humans have always exploited their natural environment for all their needs including food, clothing and shelter. As the cultural development of humans continued, they looked for a greater variety of materials to cater for their needs. The twentieth century saw an explosion in both the use of traditional materials and in the research for development of a wider range of materials to satisfy technological developments. Added to this was a reduction in availability of the traditional resources to supply the increasing world population. Chemists and chemical engineers continue to play a pivotal role in the search for new sources of traditional materials such as those from the petrochemical industry. As the fossil organic reserves dwindle, new sources of the organic chemicals presently used have to be found. In addition, chemists are continually searching for compounds to be used in the design and production of new materials to replace those that have been deemed no longer satisfactory for needs. This module increases students’ understanding of the implications of chemistry for society and the environment and the current issues, research and developments in chemistry. 1.1 Construct word and balanced formulae equations of all chemical reactions as they are encountered in this module: • Acid reactions: o acid (aq) + base (aq) salt (aq) + water (l) o acid (aq) + active metal (s) salt (aq) + hydrogen (g) o acid (aq) + metal carbonate (s) salt (aq) + water (l) + carbon...
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