Fluoropolymer Aging Phenomena

Technical Report · Thu May 16 04:00:00 EDT 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2352530· OSTI ID:2352530

Orme, C. A. ^[1]; Marple, M ^[1]; Xu, X. ^[1]; Lewicki, J. ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

This project aims to investigate structural and morphological changes in fluoropolymers induced by both processing and aging phenomena such as heat, time, and irradiation. Fluoropolymers are an important class of thermoplastics that are broadly used in industry as o-rings and seals when chemical resistance and thermal performance are important. They are also often used in thin film geometries as binders in batteries, insulation layers, water barriers, and anti-fouling coatings. For all of these applications, mechanical integrity and aging are important aspects of their use. Changes in the crystalline morphology are known to impact the mechanical properties of the polymer and can lead to failure. The broad goals of this project are to correlate compositional changes, morphological changes, and mechanical changes. report focuses on the morphological changes that are correlated with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), calorimetry and mechanical testing. We plan to compare structure and morphology measurements across complementary bulk and surface techniques. We use in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure domain shape and crystallization kinetics; in situ NMR to measure crystalline composition; and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to measure melting temperatures.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 2352530
• Report Number(s): LLNL--TR-864495; 1097244
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE