EPR study of radical annihilation kinetics of γ-ray-irradiated acrylic (PMMA) at elevated temperatures

Abstract

High-energy irradiations of polymers may cause bond cleavage or crosslinking and change the structures and physical properties of the polymers, which may offer various applications. Despite wide investigation, relationship between the kinetics and mechanism of annihilation after irradiations and the structure and some physical properties of irradiated polymers is still poorly established. We have been exploring such possible relationship and report herein investigation of the kinetics of radical annihilation of γ-ray irradiated acrylic, i.e., poly(methylmethacrylate) or PMMA, at elevated temperatures with EPR spectroscopy. The EPR spectra consist of three components, a quintet Ra, a quartet Rb, and a broad singlet Rc. Ra and Rb follow second-order annihilation kinetics, while the decay of the radical Rc is comprised of at least two parallel kinetic processes, a slow second-order pathway and a fast pathway which can be equally well fitted to first- or second-order kinetics. The kinetics is analogous to that for the radical decays in irradiated 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate copolymer. On the basis of the large hyperfine coupling constant of 2.3 mT, Ra may be assigned to a radical adjacent to two groups of protons, such as a doublet of quartet with similar coupling constants due to an anti-methylene proton and a methyl group; the Rb signal, possibly a methyl radical; and the broad singlet Rc, a magnetically coupled combination species. Alternative assignments of the radicals have also been suggested. The rate constant increases with increasing dose for each radical at a given temperature, possibly due to increase in radical concentrations at higher doses. The rate constants satisfy the Arrhenius equation, suggesting a single mechanistic pathway for the annihilation process in the temperature range; wherein the activation energy decreases with increasing dose for all radicals, possibly due to higher concentrations of free radicals in close proximity produced at higher doses.