Technora is an
aramid that is useful for a variety of applications that require high strength or
chemical resistance. It is a brand name of the company
Teijin Aramid.
Technora was used on January 25, 2004 to suspend the NASA Mars rover ''
Opportunity'' from its parachute during descent.
It was also later used by NASA as one of the materials, combined with nylon and
Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...
, making up the parachute that was used to perform a braking manoeuvre during atmospheric entry of the rover ''
Perseverance'' that landed on Mars on February 18, 2021.
Production
Technora is produced by
condensation polymerization of
terephthaloyl chloride (TCl) with a mixture of
p-phenylenediamine (PPD) and 3,4'-diaminodiphenylether (3,4'-ODA).
[ Stephanie Kwolek, Hiroshi Mera, Tadahiko Takata “High-Performance Fibers” in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry 2002, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim. ] The polymer is closely related to Teijin Aramids's
Twaron or DuPont's
Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...
. Technora is derived from two different diamines, 3,4'-ODA and PPD, whereas Twaron is derived from PPD alone. Because only one amide solvent is used in this very straightforward procedure, spinning can be completed immediately after polymer synthesis.
Physical properties
Technora has a better strength to weight ratio than steel.
Technora also has fire resistant properties which can be beneficial.
See also
*
Vectran
References
{{fibers
Synthetic fibers
Materials
Organic polymers
Brand name materials
Cables