Case Study: Improving the Physical Properties of Materials by Collaboration Between Industry and the Academy

Abstract

This Case Study describes a collaborative scientific research project carried out between Thorn EMI Central Research Laboratories, Hayes, Middlesex, and Leeds University Physics Department in the period 1980–1988. The work brought together two previously unconnected research themes, namely the preparation of highly oriented polymers with improved physical properties, and studies of electrical activity in a special class of polar plastics. Certain common plastics such as polythene may undergo high degrees of molecular orientation during deformation. Leeds University had pioneered the fabrication of high modulus polythene by tensile drawing to create fibres comparable in strength to aluminum. Independently, Thorn EMI had developed a separate class of electrically active plastic materials in various forms for hydrophone and infrared sensor applications. The collaborative work stemmed from the premise that there might be merit in applying the guidelines established for the ultra-orientation of polythene to the electrically active polar plastics, with the specific aim of obtaining materials with improved electrical activity for industrial applications. It was also recognized that such studies would add to the understanding of the complex origins of the electrical activity by creating materials with novel structures. The prospect of elucidating the mechanisms was of considerable scientific interest and complemented existing research interests in the physics department at Leeds. In parallel, the prospect of developing materials with enhanced properties was an attractive goal for Thorn EMI. The basic concept of the collaborative work that high molecular orientation in polar polymers would yield improved electrical responses, had the merit of presentational simplicity, and thus attracted attention and funding. The scientific reality was much more complex, less transparent to the uninitiated, and did not easily match the expectations of those whose interests were primarily commercial. Nevertheless the collaboration was fruitful, resulting in a number of publications for both institutions and in novel products for Thorn EMI. Acquisition of comprehensive data sets on the properties of these novel materials was a very considerable experimental task requiring existing expertise from previous work and specialized equipment at both institutions. The data sets led to a relatively complete description of contrasting materials, permitting precise identification of the dipolar component in each macroscopic electrical response and therefore informed speculation about its origins.