Thread: I need to make a Suitable Polymer

Riiight - I need to make / manufacture a Suitable Polymer for a particular application.

Available Source Materials - in massive quantities.

Water, Ammonia, Methane and other Volatiles - in Liquid form.
Also - perhaps large quantities of Carbon Dust.

Other materials will not be available in the quantities required.

I need to be able to manufacture a Suitable Polymer, also in massive quantities.
This does not need to be particularly strong or tough.

It needs to be a Liquid or "gloopy liquid", flexible and able to flow freely at a Temperature of around 10 degrees to 20 degrees Celsius.

It should remain as a fluid, perhaps a dense fluid, at Temperatures down to 5 degrees Celsius.
It should be "heavier", or denser than a Fluid mixture of Water, Ammonia and Methane - at all Temperatures.
It needs to harden to a solid, even a hard and brittle solid, at temperatures down to Minus 196 degrees Celsius.

This material in bulk ( say up to 5 metres thick ) should be a good heat insulator.

Finally - it should be resistant to bacteriological attack or bacteriological digestion.
Also - it should not be dissolved or noticeably erdoed by being in contact with Water, Ammonia, or Methane.

If I can find such a possible Polymer Material - then one of my Projects will become a "goer".

Any Ideas ??



-

Originally Posted by Karakris

Riiight - I need to make / manufacture a Suitable Polymer for a particular application.

Available Source Materials - in massive quantities.

Water, Ammonia, Methane and other Volatiles - in Liquid form.
Also - perhaps large quantities of Carbon Dust.

Other materials will not be available in the quantities required.

I need to be able to manufacture a Suitable Polymer, also in massive quantities.
This does not need to be particularly strong or tough.

It needs to be a Liquid or "gloopy liquid", flexible and able to flow freely at a Temperature of around 10 degrees to 20 degrees Celsius.

It should remain as a fluid, perhaps a dense fluid, at Temperatures down to 5 degrees Celsius.
It should be "heavier", or denser than a Fluid mixture of Water, Ammonia and Methane - at all Temperatures.
It needs to harden to a solid, even a hard and brittle solid, at temperatures down to Minus 196 degrees Celsius.

This material in bulk ( say up to 5 metres thick ) should be a good heat insulator.

Finally - it should be resistant to bacteriological attack or bacteriological digestion.
Also - it should not be dissolved or noticeably erdoed by being in contact with Water, Ammonia, or Methane.

If I can find such a possible Polymer Material - then one of my Projects will become a "goer".

Any Ideas ??



-

Haha, being asked to start from such materials suggests to me an assignment to test your knowledge of synthetic chemistry. Not sure it is ethical to help with this!

Originally Posted by exchemist

Originally Posted by Karakris

Riiight - I need to make / manufacture a Suitable Polymer for a particular application.

Available Source Materials - in massive quantities.

Water, Ammonia, Methane and other Volatiles - in Liquid form.
Also - perhaps large quantities of Carbon Dust.

Other materials will not be available in the quantities required.

I need to be able to manufacture a Suitable Polymer, also in massive quantities.
This does not need to be particularly strong or tough.

It needs to be a Liquid or "gloopy liquid", flexible and able to flow freely at a Temperature of around 10 degrees to 20 degrees Celsius.

It should remain as a fluid, perhaps a dense fluid, at Temperatures down to 5 degrees Celsius.
It should be "heavier", or denser than a Fluid mixture of Water, Ammonia and Methane - at all Temperatures.
It needs to harden to a solid, even a hard and brittle solid, at temperatures down to Minus 196 degrees Celsius.

This material in bulk ( say up to 5 metres thick ) should be a good heat insulator.

Finally - it should be resistant to bacteriological attack or bacteriological digestion.
Also - it should not be dissolved or noticeably erdoed by being in contact with Water, Ammonia, or Methane.

If I can find such a possible Polymer Material - then one of my Projects will become a "goer".

Any Ideas ??



-

Haha, being asked to start from such materials suggests to me an assignment to test your knowledge of synthetic chemistry. Not sure it is ethical to help with this!

Believe Me - It is not an Assignment.

I have never been involved in Polymers or Organic Chemistry - that is why I am damn short on knowledge in this.

My Major was Electrical and Electronic Engineering - specifically Digital and Computer Electronics.
That was in 1991 to 1992 - and I was 43 years old at the time.

You would probably NOT believe why I want to or need to know the Answer to this Question.

I am the Game Master of a Science Fiction Game - set in the Future.
Science Fiction - but I try Very Hard to make sure nearly everything is possible and feasible.

So - I just discovered that the Surface Gravity of Uranus is less than that on Earth.
That seems to make it possible to colonise the Planet.
Using Thermocoupes connecting the HOT lower Mantle to the surface, we will get a LOT of Energy / Power.

Eventually the Surface will get hot enough to melt the surface of the Water-Ice, Ammonia, Methane mixture which comprises the Mantle and Crust.
IF we can put an insulating barrier layer between the melted liquids and the un-melted Mantle - we can have surface Oceans.

We can BURN the Ammonia and Methane to create more Water Vapour, Nitrous Oxide and CO2.
We can convert the CO2 to Oxygen and Carbon Dust - that gives us Oxygen for the Atmosphere.
The Nitrous Oxide will convert to Nitrogen and Oxygen in time.

We can freeze the existing Hydrogen and Helium Atmosphere - separately.
This gives us Liquid Hydrogen as Fuel for our standard Hydrogen Fusion Reactor Powerplants.
The Helium we can use as a "fuel" for our Stellar Converters, which use "pinch zones" like a Bussard Ramjet - to convert Helium into other Elements. The most useful are Nitrogen and Oxygen.

So - we get a Planet with a vast Surface Ocean of Water, "floating" on top of the existing Mantle of frozen Water / Ammonia / Methane - we are not looking for more than about 100 metres depth maximum.
Before it gets to that stage - we "sink" several warm "ring structures" made of fused rock Cassions - right down into the Mantle, until they reach a point of equilibrium and become stable.
So - these are of the order of 200 Km or more on diameter - maybe some of these can be linked together.
We can fill these with Rock.
We get a Planet with Oceans and Big Islands, maybe even "mini-continents".

I do feel that the isolating polymer "barrier" insulating layers will allow the water in the Oceans to circulate without getting "polluted" by the Mantle Ice. The better the insulation, the better still.
We can also cover the bottom of these Oceans with the Carbon Dust, which we get from the CO2.
Maybe use Carbon to cover the surface of the Islands / Mini-Continents.

So - A Habitable Planet, which was once Uranus as it is now ??
Additional Heat can be provided by our Fusion Powerplants.
The Oceans can hold extensive and diverse forms of Sea-Life.

So - that is why I need to find the right kind of Polymer.

Blimey! Thanks for the explanation - I'd never have guessed. It seemed like the sort of thing a malevolent don would dream up, to bugger up the weekend of his students.

Well, gloopy plymers that are viscous liquids at 10-20C make me think immediately of polysaccharides, which can form sticky masses in water. S the synthetic route would involve forming sugars (which are carbohydrates, i.e. carbon, oxygen, hydrogen) and then polymerising them to polysaccharides. However I have to confess I found carbohydrate chemistry the dullest part of my degree and don't remember very much of it. But maybe what I've written will stimulate another reader, either to elaborate, or to come up with a competing way forward.