Degradation of EPDM via gamma irradiation and possible use of EPDM in radioactive waste management

Download

index.pdf

Date

2010

Author

Hacıoğlu, Fırat

Metadata

Show full item record

Item Usage Stats

286
views

89
downloads

In this study, degradation of ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM) via gamma radiation and possible use of EPDM in radioactive waste management were investigated. In estimation of radiation stability and possible use of EPDM in radioactive waste management, dose rate (both high and low), irradiation environment (in water and in air), additives (carbon black, zinc oxide, plasticizer) used in formulation, peroxide type (either aliphatic or aromatic) and content were parameters which were analyzed. Three EPDM samples having different peroxides were irradiated in water and in air with two different dose rates (993 Gy/h, 54 Gy/h) to 2163 kGy (for high dose rate) and 1178 kGy (for low dose rate). Irradiation periods for low dose rate were 2.5 years (last sample) which have not been observed in literature. Characterization of irradiated EPDM samples were done by mechanical (tensile, hardness, compression), dynamic mechanical (DMA), thermal (TGA-FTIR) and morphological (ATR-FTIR, XRD, SEM) tests. High dose rate irradiations were done in predicting how far EPDM resist to radiation and which dose rate emitted waste can be immobilized and stored in EPDM for 300 years. Low dose rate irradiations were carried out in determining morphological changes in structure, thermal stability, oxygen effect and types of reactions (crosslinking, chain scisson) which were dominant in irradiated samples. According to the test results, improvement in thermal properties and decrease in elasticity on EPDM via radiation were recorded from thermal and mechanical tests respectively. Moreover, structural changes were monitored from ATR-FTIR, SEM and XRD analysis. Mechanical tests showed that irradiated EPDM samples, which were differentiated with respect to peroxide type (aliphatic, aromatic), could resist up to total absorbed doses of 3750 kGy and 3955 kGy respectively. Up to 1178 kGy in low dose irradiation, there were not much structural changes, which were observed in ATR-FTIR analysis, in EPDM chain. It was concluded that EPDM rubber used in this study were radiation stable polymer so that they could possibly be used in conditioning of radioactive waste.

Subject Keywords

Polymers., Plastics.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612391/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/19902

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

Nanocomposites based on recycled poly(ethylene terepthalate) Tolga, Aslı; Yılmazer, Ülkü; Department of Chemical Engineering (2005) In this study, the effects of glycol type, organoclay type and concentration on the final properties of nanocomposites based on recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) was investigated. For this purpose, first recycled PET was glycolysed and after that unsaturated polyester-montmorillonite nanocomposites were synthesized by using three different types of glycols (i.e. ethylene glycol (EG), propylene glycol (PG) and diethylene glycol (DEG)). As the first step, all the compositions were prepared by Cloisite 30B...
Ternary nanocomposites of high density, linear low density and low density polyethylenes Uçar, Egemen; Yılmazer, Ülkü; Department of Polymer Science and Technology (2007) In this study, the effects of organoclay loading, compatibilizer loading and polyethylene type on the morphology, rheology, thermal properties and mechanical properties of polyethylene/compatibilizer/organoclay nanocomposites were investigated. As compatibilizer, terpolymer of ethylene-methacrylate-glycidyl methacrylate (Lotader® AX8900), as organoclay Cloisite® 15A were used. All samples were prepared by a co-rotating twin screw extruder, followed by injection molding. Considering ternary nanocomposites, h...
Graft copolymerization of p-acryloyloxybenzoic acid onto polypropylene Işık, Buket; Tinçer, Teoman; Department of Polymer Science and Technology (2006) Acryloyloxybenzoic acid (ABA) was prepared by the condensation reaction of acryloyl chloride with p-hydroxybenzoic acid in alkaline medium. The polymerization and grafting of ABA onto Polypropylene were anticipated to occur simultaneously in melt mixing at high temperature. The monomer showed liquid crystalline property. For a better dispersion of ABA in PP before graft copolymerization, a masterbatch of 50-50 (by weight) low density polyethylene + ABA was prepared, which was then used for 5, 10, 15 % ABA +...
Degradation of poly(bisphenol-a-epichlorohydrin) by gamma irradiation Ozdemir, Tonguc; Usanmaz, Ali (Elsevier BV, 2008-06-01) In this study, radiation stability of poly(bisphenol-a-epichloroliydrin) (PBEH) was studied via gamma irradiations at two different dose rates of 1540 and 82.8 Gy/h, in order to understand the possible use of PBEH in radioactive waste management as a solidifying agent. The total dose of irradiation was up to 2150kGy. Degradation nature was tested by studying the changes in mechanical and thermal properties with the change of dose rate and total dose of irradiation. Tensile strength at yield was increased fi...
Preparation and characterization of recycled polypropylene based nanocomposites Cengiz, Filiz; Yılmazer, Ülkü; Department of Chemical Engineering (2008) The aim of this study was to improve the mechanical properties of a recycled grade polypropylene. Polymer blends and nanocomposites were prepared by melt compounding method in a twin screw extruder. Cloisite® 15A, Cloisite® 25A and Cloisite® 30B were used as organoclays, and ethylene-methyl acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate (E-MA-GMA) and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (PP-MAH) were used as compatibilizers. The effects of additive concentrations, types of organoclays and compatibilizers, processing con...

Citation Formats

F. Hacıoğlu, “Degradation of EPDM via gamma irradiation and possible use of EPDM in radioactive waste management,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2010.