Stress-corrosion cracking of polypropylene in harsh oxidizing environments

Abstract

Thermoplastic pipes are widely used in the semiconductor industry, where they are used to drain highly corrosive liquid waste. When exposed to oxidizing environments, thermoplastic pipes can undergo stress-corrosion cracking (SCC), potentially causing them to fail prematurely in the absence of appropriate design and maintenance guidelines. Here, the stress-corrosion cracking behavior of polypropylene, commonly used in waste drainage pipes for dilute sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide mixtures (Piranha solutions), is investigated as a function of applied energy release rate. Sub-critical crack growth experiments are performed with compact tension specimens in sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide mixtures using a custom constant-force loading system to evaluate the effects of temperature and chemical composition on SCC crack growth. The activation energy for the SCC process is 99.7 ± 15.3 kJ/mol, and the crack growth rate depends sensitively on the concentrations of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide in the mixture. We propose a practical guideline to calculate the service life of polypropylene pipes in Piranha solutions using crack velocity curves and show that accidental exposure to a concentrated Piranha solution can significantly reduce service life.