Hyperthermal atomic oxygen reactions with kapton and polyethylene

Conference · Sun Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:7121833

Cross, J B ^[1]; Koontz, S L ^[2]; Gregory, J C; Edgell, M J ^[3]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
2. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, TX (USA). Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
3. Alabama Univ., Huntsville, AL (USA). Dept. of Chemistry

Gas phase reaction products produced by the interaction of high kinetic energy (1--3 eV) {sup 3}P ground state atomic oxygen (AO) with polyethylene and kapton were found to be H{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, CO, and CO{sub 2} with NO being a possible secondary product from kapton. Hydrogen abstraction at high AO kinetic energy is postulated to be the key reaction controlling the erosion rate of kapton and polyethylene. An Arrhenius-like expression having an activation barrier of 0.4 eV can be fit to the data, which suggests that the rate limiting step in the AO/kapton reaction mechanism can be overcome by translational energy. 16 refs., 13 figs.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/MA
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 7121833
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-90-1591; CONF-900206--9; ON: DE90011963
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360604* -- Materials-- Corrosion
Erosion
& Degradation
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400201 -- Chemical & Physicochemical Properties
ACTIVATION ENERGY
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY
KINETIC ENERGY
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OXIDATION
OXYGEN
POLYETHYLENES
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
REACTION INTERMEDIATES