Comparative studies of energy saving polymers and fabrication of high performance transparent polymer by solvent bonding

This work investigates the possibility of using polyetherimide (PEI) as an energy saving alternative to glass, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC) by carrying out heat transfer analysis and suggests vaporized solvent bonding as a viable bonding technique for the fabrication of PEI. By heat transfer analysis using building energy simulation, it is observed that less energy is expended for space-conditioning of a building with windows made of PEI when compared to glass, PMMA and PC. The compression moulding technique is used to mould PEI and fabrication is done using a solvent mixture of dimethyl sulfoxide and tetrahydrofuran in 1:1 ratio. The optical properties of the bonded specimen are studied using UV-visible spectrophotometry and it is found that PEI does not allow UV wavelength radiation to pass through while transmitting visible wavelengths. The mechanical strength of the bond is tested using lap shear tensile strength test and the type of failure is observed to be cohesive from the structure. This is indicative of the fact that using this particular solvent to bond PEI results in the maximum possible strength.