Effect of 200 keV proton irradiation on the properties of methyl silicone rubber

The effects of 200 keV proton irradiation on methyl silicone rubber were studied. The changes in surface morphology, mechanical properties, cross-linking density, glass transition temperature, infrared attenuated total reflection spectrum and mass spectrum indicated that, at lower fluence, the proton irradiation induced cross-linking, resulting in an increase in tensile strength and hardness of the methyl silicone rubber. However, at higher proton fluence, radiation-induced degradation, which decreased the tensile strength and hardness, became dominant. A macromolecular-network destruction model for silicone rubber irradiated with protons was proposed.     

质子辐照对有机硅树脂增强甲基硅橡胶的性能损伤及机理

硅橡胶具有优良的电绝缘性以及耐高低温、耐电晕、耐化学腐蚀、耐大气老化、耐臭氧和耐辐射等性能，近年来在航天领域得到了广泛应用．在宇宙空间的带电粒子如质子、电子等的辐照作用下，硅橡胶会发生性能退化，其质损率上升，产生析气现象，从而直接影响航天器的可靠性和寿命．自80年代以来，人们就对不同辐照源及不同粒子注量对硅橡胶材料的影响进行了研究，但直到近几年才将研究热点转向辐照场中硅橡胶的性能退化及微观结构的演变规律，其辐照环境大多集中于γ射线、Si^＋和F^＋离子、He^2＋离子等．对于空间环境下带电粒子辐照对硅橡胶材料的影响，国外由于相应的研究工作保密性强，报道甚少；国内哈尔滨工业大学则对我国自行研制的白炭黑增强空间级甲基硅橡胶质子辐照作用后的性能与微观结构的变化做了较为深入的研究。     

An analysis on changes in structure,tensile properties of polytetrafluoroethylene film induced by protons

Effect of 100 keV proton radiation on the structure and tensile properties of PTFE film was investigated. The change in structure before and after proton radiation was mainly evaluated by means of differential scanning calorimetry. The experimental results show that under radiation of 100 keV protons for the fluence less than 7×10¹⁵ p/cm², the DSC characteristics including the phase enthalpy of transformations at room temperature ΔH_rt1 and ΔH_rt2, the melting enthalpy ΔH_m1 and ΔH_m2, the crystallization exothermal enthalpy ΔH_c, and Tg II were decreased, while the melting temperature was increased a little with the fluence increase. The change in crystallization enthalpy ΔH_c indicated the increase of molecular weight of the PTFE film, but for 150 keV when the fluence exceeded the fluence of 10¹⁶/cm², the molecular weight decreased gradually. With increasing proton fluence, the thermal gravity loss was decreased, while the initial decomposition temperature increased, demonstrating that crosslinking of molecular chains occurred. With the increase of the proton fluence, for proton with energy less than 150 keV, the tensile fracture strength increased at first, but when the fluence exceeded 10¹⁶/cm², the tensile fracture strength showed a decreasing trend. While for the proton of 170 keV, the tensile fracture strength σ_f increased abruptly at the fluence of 2×10¹³/cm², with the fluence increasing further, the tensile fracture strength σ_f decreased gradually. The change of tensile properties could be related with the competition of branching crosslinking and the scission degradation.     

The degradation of DGEBA/DICY under 100 keV proton irradiation

The degradation process of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)/ dicyandimide (DICY) solidified system under 100 keV proton irradiation was investigated. It was found that the proton irradiation results in mass loss, which the maximum is approximately 15.5 μg/cm², and change in surface morphology of DGEBA/DICY. The analyses of FT-IR and XPS showed that, the proton irradiation induces the debonding of the weak groups such as -CH₃, C-O, leading to formation of stable carbon-rich structure by recombination of the occurred free radicals, and chemical reaction between the free radicals with participation of proton. The degradation of DGEBA/DICY exhibits exponential variation with the proton fluence, which the degradation rate is high at the initial stage of irradiation, and becomes slow trending to constant after the proton fluence reaches 6 × 10¹⁵ /cm².     

Grafting of methyl methacrylate onto natural rubber in supercritical carbon dioxide

The grafting of the methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer onto natural rubber (NR) was carried out by supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) swelling polymerization with benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as an initiator. Fourier transform–infrared spectroscopy (FT–IR) was used to confirm the formation of graft copolymers with the characteristic bands of symmetric C?O and C? O? C stretching vibrations at 1728 cm^?1 and 1147 cm^?1, respectively. The effects of the rubber‐to‐monomer ratio, amount of initiator, reaction time, and pressure on the monomer grafting level (GL) and grafting efficiency (GE) were investigated, and the optimum conditions for the preparation of NR‐g‐MMA were found to be 70:30 of the rubber‐to‐monomer ratio, 1.2% of the initiator content, and the reaction pressure of 23 MPa for 6 h. The thermal behavior of the NR and the different NR/MMA molar ratio grafted copolymer samples was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The observed glass transition temperature (T_g) was consistent with the GL. The tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, elongation at break, hardness, and oil resistance of graft copolymers were determined and compared with the values of NR and that of polymerization products prepared in traditional toluene solution. The results showed that the tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, hardness and oil resistance were greatly improved after modification in scCO₂. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Casting of poly (vinyl alcohol)/glycidyl methacrylate reinforced with titanium dioxide nanoparticles for proton exchange fuel cells

Gamma irradiation was used for cross-linking poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) mixtures of different compositions. Specifically, 0.5 wt% titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles were added and blended well with the casting mixture prior to exposure to the irradiation dose. Next, 10 kGy was found to be the optimum dose for achieving the desired physical and chemical properties of the membrane. Characterizations of the cast membranes were carried out by Fourier transformer infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS). The properties of the membrane were also characterized by ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake, and tensile strength and were assessed in relation to application in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). A maximum proton conductivity of 7.3 × 10^?2 S cm^?1 was obtained for the membrane having 20 % GMA, 80 % PVA, and 0.5 % TiO₂, and its activity and durability in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) were compared to those of a commercial Nafion® 1350.     

Dose verification by activation in vivo following proton beam eye radiotherapy

This work presents the measurements of proton activation of a group of 15 patients following proton radiotherapy of the eye. Despite the heterogeneity in activation response and reaction cross section compared with the applied uniform dose, it can be shown that induced activity may be related to incident fluence volume and thus provide verification of applied dose. This proton treatment provides in vivo information that is normally unused. Up to 400 kBq was measured at 100-second post-treatment. Significant correlation of the ¹⁵O 511 keV activity with fluence volume is shown. The patient γ-ray spectra are tabulated and discussed. The longer-lived ⁷Be (T _1/2 = 53.1 d) activity, from O and C activation, may provide an additional means of dose verification. The potential of (p,p’γ) reactions was examined by irradiation of phantoms. High energy γ-rays from O and C were measured with a large NaI(Tl) detector, with a yield of 125 γ/cm²/mGy for the ¹⁶O(p,p’γ) reaction.     

Synthesis of ferrocenyl-containing silicone rubbers via platinum-catalyzed Si–H self-cross-linking

Self-cross-linkable ferrocenyl-containing polymethylhydrosiloxanes were synthesized. Karstedt's catalyst and cis-[PtCl₂(BnCN)₂] were examined as cross-linking catalysts at room temperature for the reaction between Si–H groups of the ferrocenyl-containing polymethylhydrosiloxanes. Cis-[PtCl₂(BnCN)₂] is an effective catalyst that allows cross-linked ferrocenyl-containing silicones (silicone rubbers) to be obtained with no visible mechanical defects (bubbles or cracks) compared with Karstedt's catalyst. The ferrocene content of the ferrocenyl-containing silicone rubbers was found to be approximately 50 wt.% by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. Compared with cross-linked non-modified polymethylhydrosiloxanes, the ferrocenyl-containing silicone rubbers exhibited improved tensile properties (the tensile strength increased from 0.47 to 0.75 MPa) and a 1.5–2.5 times lower cross-linking degree. The surface resistivity of the ferrocenyl-containing silicone rubbers (50 wt.% ferrocenyl units) was approximately 7 × 10⁹ Ω/□, which was 10,000 times lower than that of pure polymethylhydrosiloxane. The obtained flexible electroactive ferrocenyl-containing silicone rubbers can potentially be applied as coatings for electronic and electrostatic-sensitive devices, interfaces, and sensors.     

Photoluminescence study of silicon solar cells irradiated with large fluence electrons or protons

In order to investigate the anomalous degradation of space silicon solar cells which was found in large fluence region, photoluminescence measurements are carried out for the cells irradiated with 1 MeV electrons with a fluence exceeding 1×10¹⁶ e/cm² and 10 MeV protons with a fluence exceeding 1×10¹³ p/cm². For both irradiation, the intensity of boron-related bound exiton line decreases with fluence and it disappears at the fluences where the anomalous degradation occurs. The dominant defect is a complex of an interstitial carbon and an interstitial oxygen (C_I–O_I). The generation of five-vacancy-defects was also observed for the proton irradiation. Variations of photoluminescence line intensity are discussed in terms of displacement damage dose calculated based on non-ionizing energy loss (NIEL).     

Simultaneous Enhancement of Mechanical and Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Natural Rubber/Recycled Ethylene-Propylene-Diene Rubber Blends by Electron Beam Irradiation

Mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of natural rubber/recycled ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (NR/R-EPDM) blends were simultanoeusly enhanced by electron beam (EB) irradiation. The cross-linking promoter, trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA), was also introduced into the blends to induce the cross-linking. By applying EB irradiation, the tensile modulus, hardness, swelling, cross-link density, and storage modulus increased with increase in the irradiation dose; an irradiation dose of 50 kGy was efficient to gain optimum tensile strength. The formation of irradiation-induced cross-links after EB irradiation is a major concern for the enhancement of mechanical, swelling resistance, and dynamic mechanical properties of the blends.     

Effect of Electron Beam Irradiation and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Copolymer on the Properties of NBR/HDPE Blends

The mechanical and physical properties of blends based essentially on nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and different ratios of high density polyethylene (HDPE) up to 25 parts per hundred part of rubber (phr) before and after electron beam irradiation were investigated. The values of tensile strength (TS), tensile modulus at 50% elongation (M₅₀), hardness and gel fraction % (GF%) of NBR/HDPE blends were increased with both irradiation dose and by increasing the content of HDPE in the blends. On the other hand, the values of elongation at break (E _b ) were decreased with both irradiation dose and the content of HDPE in the blends. By loading NBR/HDPE (100/25) blend with ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer the mechanical and physico-chemical properties were improved. Moreover, the degree of improvement is proportional to the loading content of EVA.     

Effect of Accelerated Protons on the Surface Properties of Polyethylene

The irradiation of low-density polyethylene with MeV protons leads to a substantial increase in surface free energy, its acid–base component, and surface polarity due to the appearance of functional groups in the surface layer, as confirmed by ATR IR and Raman spectra. It has been shown that the surface energy of the irradiated polymer depends little on the change in proton energy from 1 to 4 MeV at a fluence of 10¹⁵ proton/cm². It has been found that the oxygen content of the irradiated polymer surface increases as a result of oxidative reactions of the radicals generated during radiolysis and the thermal stability of the polymer decreases.     

Permeation,diffusion, and solution of cyclopropane in silicone rubber

Permeability, solubility, and diffusion coefficients have been determined for cyclopropane (c-C₃H₆) in silicone rubber at temperatures between ?8 and 70°C at relative pressures from 0.04 to 0.30. The permeability coefficients, , are of the order of 10^?6 cm³ (STP) · cm/(s · cm² · cmHg). increases slightly with increasing penetrant pressure and decreases with increasing temperature, the energy of activation for permeation being ?1.27 kcal/gmol at zero pressure. The solubility of cyclopropane in silicone rubber can be represented over the experimental concentration range by the Flory-Huggins equation. The solubility decreases with increasing temperature and the partial molar heat of solution is ?4.95 kcal/gmol. The solubility coefficient in the Henry's law limit, S(0), for cyclopropane and many other gases and vapors can be correlated with (T_c/T)², where T and T_c are the experimental and critical temperatures, respectively. The mutual diffusion coefficients, D, increase with increasing concentration and temperature, the energy of activation for diffusion being 3.68 kcal/gmol. The pressure dependence of &\[\bar P\] is described satisfactorily by a free-volume model proposed by Fujita and extended by Stern, Frisch, and coworkers. The permeability, diffusion, and solubility behavior of cyclopropane in silicone rubber is similar to that of propane (C₃H₈).     

Effect of proton irradiation on structure and optical property of PTFE film

Effects of protons on chemical structure and optical properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film were investigated in the energy range of 60 to 170 keV to simulate the effects of space proton irradiation environment. The results show that for PTFE film irradiated with protons, the change in C_1s spectrum, along with those in F_1s and the FT‐IR spectrum after irradiation, demonstrates that two processes take place simultaneously. One is substitution in which carbon to fluorine bonds can be broken by the protons and some positions of fluorine are occupied by active protons; the other is the carbonification, which results in the change of surface color and an increase of carbon percentage on the irradiated surface. For the PTFE film irradiated with 150 keV protons, the spectral absorbance ΔA_λ in the wavelengths longer than 300 nm increase unmonotonously with proton fluence, and an abnormally recovery decrease of the ΔA_λ with the increase of fluence in the range of 5×10¹³ cm^?2 to 10¹⁵ cm^?2 is observed. The change of the ΔA_λ could be related to the competition of the carbonification and the substituting effect. The carbonification increases the ΔA_λ, while the substituting increases the amorphousness amount, leading to an increase in the transparency of the film. In addition, the creation of radicals can also contribute to the increase in absorbance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrogen bond CH…O in a methanolic solution of hydrogen chloride

The existence of a hydrogen bond in which a methyl group of the (MeOH)₂H⁺ ion acts as a proton donor is examined. The fundamental vibration frequencies of this ion were calculated for different numbers and strengths of CH…O bonds. The atomic charges in neutral ((MeOH) _n ,n=1–4) and protonated ((MeOH) _m H⁺,m=2–6) associates of methanol molecules were also calculated. The experimentally observed decrease in the v(CH) vibration frequencies of the (MeOH)₂H⁺ ion to 2890 cm⁻¹ and 2760 cm⁻¹ is attributable to the fact that each methyl group of the ion is involved in formation of two CH…O bonds with strength of −12.5 kJ mol⁻¹. The proton-donating ability of the CH bond depends on the charge on its H atom; however, it does not correlate with the dipole moment of this bond. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 306–312, February, 1999.     

Preparation of PTFE-based fuel cell membranes by combining latent track formation technology with graft polymerization

Swift heavy 56 MeV ¹⁵N³⁺ ions were generated with particle fluences of 0, 3×10⁶, 3×10⁷, 3×10⁸, 3×10⁹ ions/cm² to form a latent track zone in a 25-μm-thick film of polytetrafluoroethylene (iPTFE). Styrene (St) was then grafted onto the iPTFE films by UV-irradiation or pre-γ-irradiation, and after sulfonation iPTFE-based proton-conducting membranes were obtained, here called, iPTFE-g(UV)-PStSA and iPTFE-g(γ)-PStSA membranes, respectively, which had a straight cylindrical damage zone around the ion path. The degree of grafting was found to be about 7.5% with a particle fluence of 3×10⁷ ions/cm² and with either the UV-method or the γ-method. The ion-exchange capacity, proton conductivity in the thickness direction, MeOH permeability, tensile strength and elongation at break of the obtained iPTFE-g(UV)-PStSA membrane were 0.50 mmol/g, 0.06 S/cm, 0.15×10⁻⁶ cm²/s, 50 MPa and 600%, in contrast to 0.06 mmol/g, 0.06 S/cm, 0.35×10⁻⁶ cm²/s, 19 MPa and 210% for the iPTFE-g(γ)-PStSA membrane, respectively. In comparison, the Nafion 112 measured in our laboratory exhibited an ion-exchange capacity of 0.91 mmol/g, a proton conductivity of 0.06 S/cm, a MeOH permeability of 1.02×10⁻⁶ cm²/s, a tensile strength of 35 MPa and an elongation at break of 295%. It can be concluded from these data that the lower crossover of MeOH, the same proton conductibility, the lower ion-exchange capacity, and the superior mechanical properties of the UV-grafted proton-conducting membranes compared to the Nafion make them promising materials for widespread application in direct methanol fuel cells. On the other hand, the tests of mechanical strength showed that the PTFE base film is subject to degradation by the ion-beam irradiation as well as the γ-irradiation.     

A new cross‐linked system of silicone rubber based on silicone‐polyurea block copolymer

A new cross‐linked system of silicone rubber (SR) was obtained from silicone‐polyurea block copolymers that was synthesized with aminopropyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane and (4‐isocyanatocyclohexyl)‐methane. SR possessed self‐reinforced and physical cross‐linked structure. It had better mechanical properties that the hardness, the tensile strength, and the elongation at break could reach 65 Shore A, 3.78 MPa, and 458% with the polyurea segment content ranging from 2.01% to 9.13% by weight . The hydrogen bond that led to the physical cross‐linked structure was proved byFourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The microphase separated structure that caused the self‐reinforcement was illustrated by scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction analysis, and dynamic mechanical analysis. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results showed the hydrogen bond formation between the polyurea units. Scanning electron microscopy, dynamic mechanical analysis, and X‐ray diffraction analysis results proved the microphase separation existed between polyurea units and ―Si―O―Si― chains. The increase of polyurea contents enhanced the binding of hydrogen bond and improved the extent of microphase separation. Accordingly, it decreased the thermal properties and lowered the glass transition temperature (T_g) from −108°C to −114°C. Also, the increase of polyurea contents increased the hydrophobicity of SR that the surface free energy could reach to −24.81 mN/m.     

Effect of Electron Beam Irradiation on the Properties of High Styrene Rubber/Styrene Butadiene Rubber Blends

High styrene rubber (HSR)/styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) blends at different ratios were exposed to various doses of electron beam irradiation. The effect of irradiation dose and blend ratios on the mechanical properties and shape memory characteristics in terms of strain fixation) rate (R_f) and strain recovery rate (R_r) was investigated. The results revealed that rich styrene blends displayed higher tensile strength and hardness than low styrene content blends at all irradiation doses. However, elongation at break, and toughness were lower for rich styrene content. Also, it was observed that for most specimens, the tensile strength, elongation at break and hardness increases up to100 kGy. Increasing irradiation doses resulted in slight deterioration in some mechanical properties only for low styrene content at150 kGy. According to the normalized tensile stress at 25% elongation, it was found that the contribution of irradiation in enhancing the mechanical properties is higher for rich butadiene blends. On the other hand, it was observed that rich styrene content blends possess higher R_f and R_r at all the irradiation doses and stretching temperatures. However, the increase of irradiation dose decreases R_f values; the extent of this decrease depends on the blend ratios. Conversely, for all blends, R_r were increased by increasing irradiation dose and styrene content ratios.     

Surface Energy Characteristics of Polytetrafluoroethylene Bombarded with MeV Protons

Energy characteristics of the irradiated surface of a polytetrafluoroethylene film depend on the energy and fluence of bombarding MeV protons. Irradiation with 2–4 MeV protons leads to an increase in the surface free energy; 4 MeV protons at a fluence of 10¹⁵ proton/cm² increase the polarity of the polymer surface by 40 times due to the appearance of functional groups, the polarity enhancement being manifested in an increase in the acid–base component of the surface energy by more than a factor of 50. There is a correlation between the dispersion component of the surface energy and the degree of crystallinity of the near-surface layer of the polymer a period. They both grow symbatically in the case of bombardment with 1–2 MeV protons and decrease upon irradiation with 4 MeV protons. It has been found that dehydrofluorination results in carbonization of the irradiated surface, a decrease in the fluorine content, and an increase in the proportion of oxygen due to oxidation of the radicals generated by proton bombardment.     

The synthesis of novel Schiff base antioxidants to promote anti-thermal aging properties of natural rubber

There is of great interest in promotion of anti-thermal aging properties of natural rubber (NR) to improve the applicability. In this study, two novel Schiff base antioxidants (SBAOs) for NR were synthesized utilizing 4-aminodiphenylamine with 3,5-Di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde or cinnamic aldehyde in an ethanol medium. IR, ¹³C-NMR, and ¹H-NMR confirmed the structures of SBAOs. Addition of SBAOs improved the rheometric properties, mechanical properties and thermal oxidative stability of NR vulcanizates. Introduction of SBAOs in NR increased the apparent activation energy of thermal oxidative degradation according to Kissinger and FWO methods. Anti-thermal aging performance of SBAOs for NR is related to the structures. The C=N double bonds in SBAOs improve the electron density of Ar–OH and/or Ar–NH–Ar structures, benefiting the release of active hydrogen. The active hydrogen could capture free radicals initiated during the thermal oxidative aging process. The lone pair electrons on nitrogen atom are also beneficial to delay or terminate free radical reaction. NR with SBAOs showed high mechanical properties of the tensile strength, tensile stress at 100% elongation and Shore A hardness compared to commercial BHT and 4010 during aging 96 h. It indicates potential applications of SBAOs as efficient antioxidants for NR.