Humid and Thermal Oxidative Ageing of Radiation Cured Polymers-A Brief Overview

Abstract

This article deals with the long-term behaviour of radiation cured polymers. Among the wide variety of possible ageing modes, the attention is focused on two key processes for users of radio-cured polymers: humid ageing of polymer glasses and thermal oxidative ageing of rubbers. These two processes are illustrated by numerous results coming from literature or our own research works. In both cases, the consequences of the structural modifications on the use properties (in particular, on mechanical properties) are described. It is found that the ageings of radiochemically and thermally cured polymers are not so different. It is thus concluded that a great part of the very abundant literature published on the ageing of thermally cured polymers remains exploitable for radio-cured polymers.

Keywords: changes in macromolecular skeleton; changes in mechanical properties; humid ageing; radiation cured polymer; structure-property relationships; thermal oxidative ageing; water absorption.