Summary

This new two-day conference focused on the use of polymers (including thermoplastics, thermosets, rubbers, reinforced plastics and coatings) in aggressive and/or corrosive environments. Aggressive chemical environments are surprisingly common, and not just in the pipe or chemical industries. Cleaning fluids, solvents, aircraft and vehicle oils and fuels, bleach, oxidising agents, acids and alkalis present a corrosion threat. Even ordinary water and steam can induce damage over time. Plastics and reinforced plastics can resist some of the chemicals that are most damaging to metals, although they may be susceptible to stress cracking as a result of the combination of stress and chemicals. There may be deterioration in their mechanical properties as a result of swelling by the liquid. Food packaging, landfill membranes and medical devices also need to be able to withstand the processes of permeation and diffusion. Even coffee machines operate almost continuously in demanding environments. Polymer coatings can be used to protect metal substrates. Rubber products are sometimes deployed in corrosive situations, often requiring careful choice of the elastomer. withstand a wide range of operating temperatures as well as corrosive chemicals. The range of expert presentation presented aimed to discuss these issues. LIST OF PAPERS... performance resins Sandra Klein Nagelvoort, DSM Composite Resins, The Netherlands Paper 2 Recent developments in glassflake technology Graham Greenwood-Sole, Corrocoat Ltd, UK Paper 3 Increasing the chemical stability of polymers in aggressive and corrosion environments Oleg L Figovsky, Israel Research Centre - Polymate, Israel Paper 4 Melt processable fluoropolymers: high performance materials for corrosive environments Brigitte Neubauer, Solvay Solexis SpA, Belgium Paper 5 Synthesis of 2, 5 bis (2,2'dicarboxyethyl) tiophene) and different corrosion and heat resistant polyamides Davood Habibi, Bu Ali Sina University, Iran Paper 6 Unexpected failue of high-quality FRP process equipment causedby stress corrosion cracking Gunnar Bergman, Swedish Corrosion Institute, Sweden Paper 7 Encapsulation of radioactive wastes in polymeric materials Joanne Hill, United Kingdom Nirex Ltd, UK Paper 8 A comparative study of the uniform and stress corrosion resistance of different glass-fibres types/laminates in acid and alkaline environments at different concentrations and temperatures Stefanie Romhild, Swedish Corrosion Institute,