Abstract
This article deals with the influence of electron beam radiation on nano-mechanical properties and the structure of polyamide 11. Crosslinking of polymers is a process, during which macromolecular chains start to connect to each other and the spatial network creates in the structure. During the action of the ionizing radiation two actions can occur: crosslinking and scission of macromolecules – degradation. Both these processes run parallel. Using the crosslinking technology the standard and construction polymer can obtain the more “expensive” high-tech polymeric materials properties and thus replace these materials in many applications. Tested material was irradiated by different doses of beta radiation (33, 66 and 99 kGy). The nano-mechanical properties were measured using DSI method, which fluently records the change of the indentation in time. From this dependence it is possible to determine nano-mechanical properties such as indentation hardness, indentation modulus etc. During results consideration it is obvious that irradiation acts on each polymer differently, but always when the optimal dose was found, nano-mechanical properties increased up to 34 %. The changes of nano-mechanical properties were confirmed by structural measurement when the change of hardness and modulus corresponded to gel content.
Highlights
Polyamide 11 (PA 11) is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer belonging to the family of aliphatic polyamides well known as Nylon belonging to the most used polymeric materials
For the nano-mechanical properties measurement the polyamide 11 was selected for radiation crosslinking
The main reason of this selection is this easy modification by beta radiation and this often application in the technical practice
Summary
Polyamide 11 (PA 11) is a semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer belonging to the family of aliphatic polyamides well known as Nylon belonging to the most used polymeric materials. Polyamides are considered as construction polymers used in all branches of the plastics industry. Very often they are used in the automotive industry. Polyamides have excellent mechanical properties, high resistance against chemicals and abrasion etc. These polymers are often reinforced with the fibre glass to obtain better mechanical properties. Other of many possibilities how to improve mechanical properties of polyamides is to use ionizing beta radiation for creation of crosslinked bonds in the inner structure of the material. Radiation crosslinking using ionizing beta radiation is the safe, fast, clean process, free of waste with no environmental hazard. Our team investigated the influence of ionizing beta radiation on the micromechanical properties of PA 11. We found out that after irradiation of PA 11 with the doses of 0, 33, 66 and 99 kGy had this polymer the best micro-hardness at the dose of 99 kGy, the elastic modulus at the dose of 33 kGy and the indentation creep at the dose of 99 kGy was similar as in the case of non-irradiated samples [1]
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