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- Beta-relaxation (1)
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Effect of well dispersed amorphous silicon dioxide in flame retarded styrene butadiene rubber
(2013)
Spherically shaped amorphous silicon dioxide with broad size particle distribution was used in combination with aluminium trihydroxide (ATH) in styrene butadiene rubber composites. The pyrolysis, flammability, fire properties, flame spread and gas diffusion were investigated. The kind and amount of ATH, but in particular the fine silicon dioxide chosen as an additive, influenced the thermal decomposition and fire behaviour of styrene butadiene rubber composites. Gravimetric gas sorption measurements showed that the gas diffusion was systematically lower with silicon dioxide. The initial pyrolysis gas release was hindered, increasing the temperature at which decomposition begins as well as the ignition time in fire tests. During combustion, ATH and silicon dioxide accumulate on the surface of the specimen, forming a residual protective layer. A reduced peak heat release rate and fire spread were observed. The addition of a special kind of silicon dioxide is proposed to play a key role in optimising fire retardancy.
Detailed atomistic simulations were carried out for swelling polymer/gas systems related to experimental sorption and dilation data for CO2 and CH4 in three glassy polymers (polysulfone PSU, the polyimide 6FDA-TrMPD, and a polymer of intrinsic microporosity PIM-1) at 308 K (35 °C) and pressures up to 50 bar. Corresponding experiments were performed with a gravimetric sorption balance and a dilatometer based on a capacitance distance sensor. For each polymer/gas system molecular packing models were prepared and equilibrated for two reference states: the pure polymer is taken as reference for the respective 'unswollen' state and similarly the state of the highest penetrant pressure reached in the corresponding experiment is taken to represent the 'swollen' state. Models for the latter were constructed in agreement with experimental data (pressure, temperature, gas concentration and volume dilation). Concentration–pressure isotherms of each polymer/gas system were obtained using Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations for both reference states (depleted of gas molecules), which are in good agreement with the experimental data in the respective pressure range. As expected these isotherms – due to the simulation technique used, merely based on hole-filling in a static host matrix – do not represent the sorption behavior over a broader range of gas pressures which may involve significant structural rearrangements as well as swelling and relaxational phenomena. Nevertheless, a linear combination of the two GCMC-isotherms allows the interpolation in order to describe the nonlinear gas sorption in the glassy polymers under investigation covering the penetrant pressure range between the reference states in good agreement with the experimental results.
According to basic phenomenological models describing the solution-diffusion based mechanism of penetrant diffusion in dense polymers, a connection between the diffusive transport of gas molecules in a polymeric matrix and the molecular mobility of that matrix on a certain length scale is, in principle, established for a long time. However, experimental data directly showing this correlation are rare. The investigation of a series of nanocomposites based on a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) and a polycarbonate matrix allows a systematic change of the molecular mobility on a local length scale (β-relaxation) and of the corresponding activation energy EA, both determined by broadband dielectric spectroscopy. Independently, activation energies of penetrant diffusion (ED) of these nanocomposites were determined for N2, O2, CO2, and CH4 and a clear linear correlation between the two activation energies was established for the first time.
Due to their extreme high hydrogen contents, high molecular weight (HMW-) and ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW-) polyethylene (PE) are a comprehensible choice as neutron radiation shielding material in casks for storage and transport of radioactive materials. But as a direct consequence of inserting radioactive material in such casks, gamma radiation occurs. Hence, the impact of gamma radiation on the molecular structure of polyethylene has to be taken into consideration. Consequently, PE has to withstand any type of gamma radiation induced degradation affecting safety relevant aspects in order to be applicable for long term neutron radiation shielding purposes during the whole storage period (in Germany, for instance, up to 40 years). The scope of our investigation comprises an estimation of the impact of gamma radiation and temperature on the molecular and supra molecular structure of the two types of PE used as neutron radiation shielding cask components. A further point which is worth exploring is to what extent these changes are detectable by conventional analysis methods. Therefore, thermoanalytical measurements were performed such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo mechanical analysis (TMA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Additionally optical and weighing methods were applied. With those methods it is possible to detect structural changes in polyethylene induced by exposure to gamma radiation. The observed amounts of changes of the irradiated material are not safety relevant for the application of polyethylene as neutron radiation shielding material; moreover, some properties actually improve via irradiation.