This was done by team monocrystals from Al-Arqam Academy under the supervision of Al-bairaq from Qatar university.

1. AL-Bairaq
I am Discovering Materials
polymers
MONO CRYSTALS
Fatima aljaber rouda eebrahim
nadya alkubaisi firdous mohammed

2. Outline
Introduction to polymers
• Activity 1 : Changing Polymer Pellets
• Activity 2 : Hunting for polymer Products
• Activity 3 : Comparing Viscosity of polymer products.
• Activity 4 : Testing for tensile strength and Elasticity
of Polymer products.
• Design Project : Designing a humidity sensor.
• Product idea : Protective Car Bumpers.
2

3. • Polymers are compound made of many bits called
monomers (useful chemicals)
• They have different properties and applications
according to their structure and other things
• A polymer can be a three dimensional network
• Polymers can be natural or synthetic
• Many polymers are made from hydrogen and carbon
• Polymerisation is the chemical reaction linking the
monomer molecule together
• Many polymers are made from hydrogen and carbon
• Polymerisation is the chemical reaction linking the
monomer molecule together .
Introduction

4. 4
Activity 1 : changing
polymer pellets
Activity 2 :
hunting for polymer products
Activity 3 Comparing
viscosity of polymers
We experimented with polym
ers that can absorb water .
We exposed the polymer, po
lyacrylamide , to plain water
and salt water.
We learnt that polyacrylamid
e is one of the polymers that
absorbs 200 times of its act
ual size.
It also exhibits shrinking in si
ze when placed in salt water
showing the diffusion.
We researched for different
polymers that come across
in everyday life. We learnt
different properties of each
polymer and their different
applications. This helped
us to build a new product id
ea.
We learnt property
of viscosity of
polymers with
methanol, ethylene
glycol and glycerol.
We also concluded
that higher the
molecular weight,
higher is the
polymer viscosity.
Activities

5. 5
Activity 4:
Testing strength and flexibility of polymers
Design Project: Designing
humidity sensor
We prepared films by applying differ
ent polymer solutions of poly- vinyl
acetate in varying concentrations an
d tested those films by applying 200
g weights from the tip of the polyme
r to test flexibility and tensile streng
th.
We designed humidity sens
or from chemical compone
nts like polymers, 2-butan
one and cobalt chloride in
different ratios and we com
pared the results to find th
e best humidity sensor that
gives fast results. The sens
or changes color from blue(
no water) to pink (with wat

6. Product Idea- Protective Car
Bumpers
6
•Qatar is highly prone to accidents and a large
number of cars are being damaged due to the
back end collisions due to the poor judgement of
the drivers to apply brakes in time.

7. Product Idea - Protective Car Bumpers
7
•Our product idea is to employ high tensile
polymer material in preventing damage to
the cars on front/back end collision.
•We employ sensors to release air bags
from the front grill of the cars to withstand
the damage done. the collision will also
automatically alert the car in front , also to
release its air bags on the collision from
back so that it could avoid damage to the
other cars

8. Protective Car Bumpers
Hypothesis
• We are aiming to incorporate protective
airbag system with polymers that is both
manual and automatically employed as the
driver should decide when to employ
airbags.

9. Product Idea - Protective Car Bumpers
Methods
9
Materials- We use high tensile strength PVC
tarpaulin canvas as in the air bags used to
provide protection.
• We employ manual as well as automatic
release of airbag system. the manual system
is employed by the drivers as they doubt to
apply brakes on time, they use it.
• Whereas the automatic system is applied on
the collision from the back end.

10. 10
• The high tensile strength PVC tarpaulin is
heat resistant and also can withstand
collision damage to a small extent.
• The PVC tarpaulin is less costly when
compared to the airbag materials that are
used.
Protective Car Bumpers
Benefits

11. 11
There are many recommendations, as our
product idea needs to overcome many
problems on designing the most effective
collision protection system. Most
importantly, the deployment system of
airbags should be as quick and easily
retractable whenever possible.
Recommendations

12. Conclusions
• Throughout our journey with Al-Bairaq, we
learnt about different polymers and their
properties and applications in everyday life
and industrial applications.
• Moreover, we learn to design a new product
idea that could change the lives of people and
make it better.
• We learn to work as a team, build confidence
and improve our communication skills.

13. Acknowledgments
Many thanks to my teachers, school and AL-Bairaq team from Center for Advanced Materials
(CAM), Qatar University for supporting us during our journey with a AL-Bairaq.
Also, I would like to thank the sponsors UNESCO and Qatar National Commission.