Effects of electron beam irradiation on the property behaviour of poly(ether-block-amide) blended with various stabilisers

Kieran A. Murray, James E. Kennedy, Valerie Barron, Brian McEvoy, Olivier Vrain, Damien Ryan, Richard Cowman, Clement L. Higginbotham

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Radiosterilisation can induce modifications and/or degradation to transpire in poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBA) following irradiation. The current investigation utilises combined synergistic mixtures of stabilisers to minimise these effects, by melt blending them with the PEBA material. Hindered amine stabilisers (HAS), primary antioxidants and secondary antioxidants were the stabilisers incorporate to reduce/eliminate the effects of 50. kGy electron beam irradiation dose on the material. Results were discussed by comparing the stabilising efficiency of mixtures on the PEBA material in contrast to the control sample. Dynamic frequency sweeps demonstrated the formation of crosslinks, where the degree of crosslinking was dependent on the combination of stabilisers mixed in the base material (PEBA). The storage modulus displayed that PEBA blended with Irganox 565 had very slight changes in contrast to all other samples following irradiation. However, since this sample is a phenol containing system, severe discolouration was observed in comparison to other samples due to the oxidation of the hindered phenol. Overall, this study provides compelling evidence that a combined synergistic mixture of Irganox 565 (multifunctional phenolic antioxidant) and Tinuvin 783 (hindered amide light stabiliser) with PEBA, resulted in the best radiation stability.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)24-37
Number of pages14
JournalRadiation Physics and Chemistry
Volume110
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2015

Keywords

  • Crosslinking and chain scission
  • Electron beam irradiation
  • Mechanical
  • Poly(ether-block-amide)
  • Stabilisers
  • Structural and surface properties
  • Thermal

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