Found This From Oakley Regarding Their Lenses.

[qtrain23]

It would be great if we as a community could crack the truth open on polycarbonate. Is there carbon? Isn't there? If there isn't, is it just a selling tactic? I'm very intrigued to find out.

It's really not a big secret. It's chemistry. Do a little reading is all.

 

[Batwolf]

 

[Sunglass Shack]

I have, I have you saying there is carbon in polycarbonate and I think Rustpot saying there isn't carbon in polycarbonate if I remember correctly.

And yes, I didn't realize until just now I was shooting from the hip when typing that. I was inaccurate in saying they remove the carbon from polycarbonate, I did mean to say the impurities. I actually this whole time didn't realize I wrote it that way until you just pointed it out, that makes more sense now why others brought it up. Most of the time I am using talk to text on my phone and just rambling. I need to start reading what I wrote a little more closely.

 

[Clay]

Polycarbonate means multiple carbon chains are what make up the material.

 

[Sunglass Shack]

Rustpot said in the other thread:

That makes absolutely ZERO sense. Whether or not there's goop in the vat, there's no raw Carbon involved.

I'm confused. Derp! So I am taking it hence what I have read so far online there is carbon involved and (as I knew from training) they are filtering the impurities in the material. This is correct then? I'm interested in knowing exactly the whole story because each Season I train up to 12 employees and pass this information along to them. Thanks for the help!

 

[Clay]

He's right. Carbon is in lots of things, hell it's in every living thing in one shape or form. Oil, and everything made from it is a hydrocarbon so it's carbon based, but it's not raw carbon.

 

[Sunglass Shack]

He's right. Carbon is in lots of things, hell it's in every living thing in one shape or form. Oil, and everything made from it is a hydrocarbon so it's carbon based, but it's not raw carbon.

Gotcha, ok, now it's starting to make enough sense for me. Truthfully I guess I didn't know there was a difference between carbon and raw carbon. This clears things up a bit and will help me to make sure I pass the information along correctly to my Staff. We normally just touch on how they remove the impurities to a customer and don't go too much into detail but I am one to always like to know the facts and as much as I can about a subject. Thanks everyone for helping me clear that up. It is greatly appreciated! =)

 

[qtrain23]

Thanks. My phone wouldn't let me post it for some reason

 

[Rustpot]

During the chemical process to produce polycarbonate lots of other stuff is made as byproducts.

You start with two compounds in varying quantities, you make a few more. Take one you just made, add something else, make a few more things. Depending on the route you take, this is a 3-5 step process if I recall correctly.

Things like water and salt are produced, along with a few nastier substances.

Carbon itself is an element. A single atom of carbon, when introduced with more carbon, will produce structures such as the hexagons you see inside the carbonate. This is from valence sharing and how carbon's outermost electrons want to create bonds.

PURE carbon structures exist. Pencil lead, diamonds, etc. Carbon as an element exists in EVERYTHING pretty much. There's a whole set of chemistry called "organic chemistry" which deals with compounds containing carbon. Since it is carbon's ability to form easy bonds that allows life to exist.

"Carbon" is a term used to describe many things. What's left over after you burn stuff is called "carbon". The suit formed from firing a gun is called "carbon". The burnt food stuck to your pan is called "carbon". Yeah, there's a lot of carbon-based stuff in there, but pretty much no carbon. Like the carbonate shown above, there are 16 carbon atoms in that molecule. It's carbon-based (it IS a plastic after all) but it in no way behaves like carbon would.

So when you said polycarbonate is made from "poly" and "carbonate" I had to jump in. The word is not separable in such a manner. And when you say they're removing "carbon" from the liquid polycarbonate... well carbon isn't a byproduct in the process, it won't form as a precipitate, it's just not present. Unless where they're getting their hydroxyl groups to form the *ULTIMATE PURE PLUTONITE* does. But they're probably using the term generically.

 

[LoPan12]

Yup, that's how I read it rustspot. Sunglass Shack, the "poly" refers to the fact that it consists of a polymer, which are long chains of the same molecules (hence root referring to many), in this case, "carbonate" molecules.

That carbonate, like rustspot details, isn't pure carbon, but exists only because of carbon's very useful chemical properties, which is why it's the main part of the name. Those properties allow other atoms and molecules to arrange/connect together into various structures.

I'm not a materials engineer, but when they talk about impurities, I think that's talking about removing things that interrupt, prevent, or deform the polymer chains formed by the carbonate groups.

Think of it this way: would you like a metal chain to have uniformly strong, identical links, so that stress is evenly distributed? Or would you want the occasional square link, or triangular link, or some other funny shape that would likely be where the chain failed when it was heavily loaded?

Their use of diamonds as an example is probably an unwise one. Since that's pure carbon atoms, arranged in a rigid crystalline structure. That's like a jungle gym, where as you can think of polymer chains as a big bowl of spaghetti....
I think I'm just rambling now...I hope it helps though