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In a laboratory test, transparent high‐density polyethylene (HDPE) jerrycans have been exposed to both UV radiation and 55 wt‐% nitric acid solution at (41 ± 2)°C, for up to 20 days. For comparison, UV radiant exposure (21 days) and nitric acid exposure (up to 6 weeks) were performed separately, at nearly equal temperatures. The damages are compared with FTIR spectroscopy in ATR and HT‐gel permeation chromatography(GPC) on a molecular level and with hydraulic internal pressure testing as a component test. For the used jerrycans, relevant oxidation can only be found after the combined exposure. This is caused by the decomposition of nitric acid into nitrous gases by UV radiation, which is also observed at lower concentrations (28 wt‐%). After 6 days of laboratory exposure, this is rated as critical, which corresponds to about 1/10 year in Central Europe, according to the UV radiant exposure. The gradual increase in oxidative damage shows the reproducibility of the test.
Depending on the specific plastic’s ageing sensitivities, the durations which plastic components remain in the environment can be very long. As, in the past, the advantages in ageing resistance and durability were highly evaluated, we now face the problem of quite stable plastic waste within the environment.
However, there is only little knowledge on the real timescales until macroscopic fragmentation for the different kinds of plastic under various environmental conditions.
Here, weathering methods are presented, which have been used for the failure prediction in specific outdoor conditions. Issues of uncertainty, reproducibility, or validation are discussed.
For the prediction of the plastic’s fragmentation, much longer time scales have to be considered. To do this within a limited project life span, various processes as well as their acceleration potential have to be evaluated separately, such as temperature increase or spectral shift.
The possibilities and limitations of such controlled acceleration will be discussed.
Weathering reference materials are used to characterize the harshness of an exposure, aiming on either reproducibility of a specific exposure or on the comparability between various kinds of weathering exposure.
The materials that are used as weathering reference materials differ in their sensitivities (as well as in interactions and interferences of the latter), conditioned by the different processes which lead to the respective property change. It is also essential to take into account the necessary measurement equipment for the respective property change, in order to allow timely intervention.
What are the key issues on choosing a weathering reference material?
What can be learned from the weathering reference materials, investigated so far?
Possibilities and limitations are discussed on the basis of existing weathering reference materials. Conclusions are drawn, for establishing new weathering reference materials.
Weathering reference materials (WRMs) are used to characterize the harshness of an exposure, aiming on either reproducibility of a specific exposure or on the comparability between various kinds of natural or artificial weathering exposure.
The materials that are used as weathering reference materials differ in their sensitivities (as well as in interactions and interferences of the latter), conditioned by the different processes which lead to the respective property change. It is also essential to take into account the necessary measurement equipment for the respective property change, in order to allow timely intervention.
What are the key issues on choosing a weathering reference material?
What can be learned from the weathering reference materials, investigated so far?
Possibilities and limitations are discussed on the basis of existing weathering reference materials. Conclusions are drawn, for establishing new weathering reference materials.
Exposure response function for a quantitative prediction of weathering caused aging of polyethylene
(2019)
The exposure response function of the carbonyl formation over the bulk has been determined for a high-density polyethylene of a thickness of 200 μm, which was used as a weathering reference material according to ISO TR 19032. To this end, spectral sensitivity was studied by local measurement of the effect of spectrally dispersed irradiation. Both the exposure device and the methodology of determination are described.
The temperature dependency of photooxidation was determined by UV exposure at various temperatures between 23 and 80 °C. Deviations from linearity and thus reciprocity below 40 °C are discussed and assumed to be related to diffusion limitations. An Arrhenius approach –based on data of linear carbonyl formation – has been incorporated into the exposure response function. Using this exposure response function, aging in terms of the distribution of a quantitative property change over a plastic component can be predicted for a specific outdoor location with real chronologic weather data as input for the exposure. Thus, artificial and natural weathering can be linked and compared. The established exposure response function has been validated by outdoor exposure results from the literature. If an estimated diffusion limitation is taken into consideration, calculations and published data are in good agreement.
Unpigmented HDPE jerrycans filled with nitric acid (55%) and water respectively had been exposed to outdoor conditions for one Berlin summer season. As both liquids underwent equal temperature progression, exposure effects of UV radiation and nitric acid as well as of their combination can be separated and compared. On the basis of various property changes after these exposures, synergistic action is evaluated and compared to a damaged Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) from a transport accident.
It is found that carbonyl formation goes along with lightness increase in color measurement due to microcracking and with a worsening in mechanical behavior, all of them showing synergistic effects of UV and nitric acid exposure. In contrast, embedding nitrogen compounds goes along with yellowing of the material but cannot be correlated to oxidation.
The reason for intensified damaging is the decomposition of the 55-percent nitric acid and formation of nitrogen oxides even at ambient temperatures, caused by UV radiation. Thus, damaging effects become similar to those caused by fuming nitric acid exposure at temperatures above 60 °C, with the result of strong oxidative degradation of the polyethylene.
In contrast, exclusive exposure to the 55-percent nitric acid at 40 °C does not cause any failure.
It can therefore be assumed that also the damaged IBC had been exposed to both UV radiation and nitric acid, probably outdoors.
Outdoor exposure tests are a common tool to evaluate the weathering resistance of a polymeric material or component. However, they have only a limited validity, mainly due to the limited reproducibility of the weather as well as of the bad adaptability to other exposure sites. Typically, an outdoor exposure is characterized by the measured radiant exposure; sometimes averaged temperature data are added. These can be – separately – related to long-term annual means, to get an idea on the severity of the exposure.
However, as for polymeric ageing, irradiance and temperature act simultaneously, such severity of an outdoor exposure could be better described by a computed property change of a similar material, which is calculated from the hourly irradiance and temperature values on the base of established exposure response functions.
In this way, various outdoor exposures are evaluated. For several exposure sites, annual deviations of the ageing amount are related to annual mean values, to evaluate the weathering reproducibility at the exposure site. Additionally, correlations to relevant weather parameters are illuminated. Also some specific exposure conditions, such as tilt angle, are tested. Compared to the use of weathering reference materials, this procedure unfavourably depends on the availability of a suited control as well as on the quality of the established exposure response function. In contrast, it enables a later exposure evaluation, on the base of documented weather data, if for instance no reference material was exposed.
In this paper, we demonstrate the effects of radiation exposures of polymeric materials with UV-A 340 nm lamps (ISO 4892-3, Type 1A) at -10 °C in comparison to an irradiation at +50 °C using a Global UV Test 200 fluorescent lamp device from Weiss Umwelttechnik GmbH, which incorporates an active cooling appliance. While the effects at -10 °C actually are lower than at + 50°C their extent was clearly beyond expectations.
Radiation in the spectral ranges of UV and VIS are environmental impact factors that can cause ageing of many materials or products. The reason for this is that especially organic materials, such as food or many pharmaceutical, are subject to photochemical degradation. Of course, suited transparent packaging material may give protection against such impact for radiation sensitive fillings. But for this, it is necessary to know about the spectral range of the fillings sensitivity as well as about the radiation impact of the radiation sources that are relevant during the life time of the product.
The spectral irradiance for characterizing the emission of various radiation sources is easily measured by means of a spectroradiometer. The spectral sensitivity of a filling's property can be determined by spectrally dispersed irradiation, where the positions on a sample are related to the different wavelengths. Thus, the damaging effect of the different wavelengths can be directly evaluated. A lateral measurement of the relevant property change shows the activation spectrum, which is the product of the spectral radiant exposure and the spectral sensitivity. By measuring the spectral irradiance for each sample position, the spectral sensitivity of the ageing property can be calculated.
Comparing the fillings spectral sensitivity and the spectral irradiance of a potential radiation source during later transport and storage, conclusions can be drawn about necessary spectral absorption of a (partly) transparent packaging to give sufficient protection.
The setup for such investigation will be shown and several illustrating samples from daily food experience will be given.
In order to estimating the amount and kind of emissions from polymeric sporting tracks a laboratory test was developed in BAM that combines artificial weathering and subsequent batch and column tests [1, 2, 3]. The goal consisted in nvestigating a possible change of emissions into soil and groundwater of a new sporting ground as a function of ageing and egradation of the system. At various stages of the weathering, the samples were removed and subjected to especially designed column extraction tests for the solid samples. Both these extracts and the accumulated rainwater run-off of the weathering device were subjected to analytical tests of their ingredients. The overall aim of the test consisted in developing ontrollable, reproducible, and standardisable conditions and methods of investigation that would allow an estimation of the emissions in the course of outdoor application of about five years.