Effect of Changing Environments on Microstructure of HDPE Polymer

Abstract

The analysis of environmental effects on microstructure of HDPE polymers were done according to their mechanical behavior obtained from tensile, impact and microhardness testing and thermograms obtained from DSC. The samples were conditioned under three different kinds of humidity and temperature environment. With increase in conditioning time, the variations of tensile strength, impact, microhardness were observed to be nonlinear in nature. The high values are possibly due to polymerization such as cross-linking. The low values may be attributed by depolymerization mechanism such as chain scission and bond breakage. The variation of data is due to more physical damage of the polymer because of unequal expansion of the surface. The refrigeration also affects the crystalline regions by changing free volume. Again rearrangement of end groups in the lamella through partial melting and recrystallization are observed due to thermal conditioning and thermal shock.

Share and Cite:

S. Bal, D. Mahesh, T. Sen and B. Ray, "Effect of Changing Environments on Microstructure of HDPE Polymer," Journal of Minerals and Materials Characterization and Engineering, Vol. 6 No. 1, 2007, pp. 1-16. doi: 10.4236/jmmce.2007.61001.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Bhat, N. V. and Naik, S. G., 1984, Textile Res. J., vol. 54, pp. 868.
[2] Jabarin, S. A. and Lofgren, E. A., 1994, J Appl Polym Sci, vol. 53, pp. 411.
[3] Pages, P., Carrasco, F., Saurina, J. and Colom, X., 1996, J Appl Polym Sci, vol. 60, pp. 153.
[4] Hoekstra, H. D., Breen, J.and Die Angew, 1997, Makromol Chem, vol. 252, pp.69.
[5] Hoekstra HD, Spoormaker JL, Breen J. and Die Angew, 1997, MakromolChem, vol. 247, pp. 91.
[6] Gonzalez, A. V., Cervantes-UC, J. M. and Veleva, L., 1999, Polym Degrad Stab, vol. 63, pp. 253.
[7] Satoto, R., Subowo, W., Yusiasih, R., Takane, Y., Watanabe, Y. and Hatakeyama, T., 1997, Polym Degrad Stab, vol. 56, pp. 275.
[8] Bruijn JCM. Degradation profiles of thick high density polyethylene samples after outdoor and arti.cial weathering. In: Clough RL, Billingham NC, Gillen KT, editors. Polymer durability: degradation, stabilisation and lifetime prediction, Advances in Chemistry Series 249. Washington: American Chemical Society; 1996. pp. 599.
[9] Clegg, D. W and A. A. Collyer; 1993, The Structure & Properties of Polymeric Materials, The Institute of Materials.
[10] John Moalli; Plastics Failure Analysis and Prevention, Menlo Park, California,USA.
[11] Ketan Shah et. al, Sep 1998, Technical paper series, Gas Permeability and Medical Film Products.
[12] Salame, M.; 1989, Plastic Film Technology, vol. 1, Finlayson KM (ed), Lancaster, PA, Technomic, pp. 132.
[13] Briston, J. H.; 1984, Plastic Films, New York, Wiley.
[14] Symposium on High Temperature and Environmental Effects on Polymeric Composites, Oct 15, 1991, San Diego, CA, USA.
[15] Aida, F. Shinan Wang; Fujita, M.; Tanimoto, G.; Fujiwara, Y., 1997, Journal of electrostatics, vol. 42, n1-2, pp. 3-15, Tokyo, Japan, Elsevier, Netherlands.
[16] Suwanprateeb, J.; 2004, Polymer testing, vol. 23, pp. 157 – 161.
[17] Lynch, J. K.; Nosker, T. J.; Renfree, R. W.; Krishnaswamy, P. and Francini, R.; "Weathering Effects on Mechanical Properties of Recycled HDPE Based Plastic Lumber", 2001, Proceedings, Society of Plastics Engineers, ANTEC Conference, Dallas,TX.
[18] Rueda, D.R .; Martinez-Salazar J. and Baltá-Calleja F. J; 1985, J. Mater. Sci., vol. 20, pp. 834.
[19] Balta Calleja, F. J.; Fakirov, S.; 1997, Trends Polym. Sci., vol. 5 (8), pp. 246.
[20] Flores, A; Calleja, F. J. B.; Attenburrow, G. E.; Bassett, D. C.; 2000, Polymer, vol. 41, pp. 5431-5435.
[21] Gulminea, J.V.; Janissekb, P. R.; Heisec, H. M. and Akcelrudd, L.; 2003, Polymer Degradation and Stability, vol. 79, pp. 385–397.
[22] Danjaji, I.D., Nawang, R.; Ishiaku, U.S.; Ismail, H.; Mohd Ishak, Z.A.M., 2002, Polymer Testing, vol. 21, n 1, pp. 75-81, Elsevier Science Ltd.
[23] Jurkowki, B. and Olkhov, Y. A.; Thermomechanical study of low-density polyethylene, polyamide 6 and its blends, 2002, European polymer Journal, vol. 38, pp.1229-2044.
[24] Janzen, J.; 1992, Polym.Eng. Sci., vol. 17, pp. 1242.

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.