Lodz University of Technology, Poland

1. Lodz University of Technology, Poland MS. Katarzyna Bandzierz Prof. Dariusz Bieliński Radiation methods of polymer modification: Hybride crosslinking of butadiene – acrylonitrile rubber

2. Ionizing radiation • Any kind of radiation (electromagnetic, corposcular or mixture of both), which carry enough energy to break chemical bonds,separate electrons from parent atoms and molecules – cause ionization of irradiated matter. Ionizingradiation- ENERGY - Secondary electron

3. Ionizing radiation • Any kind of radiation (electromagnetic, corposcular or mixtureof both), which carry enough energy to break chemical bonds, separate electrons from parent atoms and molecules – cause ionization of irradiated matter. • Radiation engineering – involves practical application of chemical reactions (and biological and physcical processes) initiated with ioniznig radiation. Ionizingradiation- ENERGY - Secondary electron

4. Electron beam (EB) as a form of ionizing radiation ElectronacceleratorElektronica ELU-6E(Institute of Applied RadiationChemistry, LodzUniversity of Technology) Operating pulpit and control cabinet of electron accelarator Linear electron accelerator

5. curing of surface layers leading to surface modification grafting (of bulk material or surface) chain-scissioning for recycling purposes crosslinking of polymer materials (includingheat-shrink products and hydrogels) … and many others Radiation modification of polymers

6. Crosslinking of polymers • Crosslinking – process of forming bonds (crosslinks) between macromolecules’ chains, which leads to three-dimentional polymer network. • Crosslinking is fundamental and indispensable process in polymer processing ! Radiation crosslinking – scheme

7. Advantages of radiation crosslinking • Simplicity to control network density • Irradiation process can be carried out in room temperature (or either lower or higher), in air or another medium of choice (e. g. inert gas atmosphere) • Comparing to products crosslinked ‘classically’ – thermally, general improvement of properties occurs • Radiation crosslinking do not create residual stress in material (as thermal crosslinking do) • The method is fast, efficient and inexpensive, defined as “green process”

8. Author’sownresearch

9. Results – crosslinking of nitrile rubber Density of network as a function of ionizing radiation dose Network density of sample crosslinked solely thermally: material composition: NBR (100 phr), MBTS (1,5 phr), S8(2 phr), ZnO (5 phr), stearic acid (1 phr), silica Aerosil A380 (40 phr)

10. Results – mechanical properties of composite 250 kGy 200 kGy material composition: NBR (100 phr), MBTS (1,5 phr), S8(2 phr), ZnO (5 phr), stearic acid (1 phr), silica Aerosil A380 (40 phr)

11. Results – hybride structure of crosslinks 100 kGy 150 kGy 200 kGy 250 kGy material composition: NBR (100 phr), MBTS (1,5 phr), S8(2 phr), ZnO (5 phr), stearic acid (1 phr), silica Aerosil A380 (40 phr)

12. Summary • Radiationmodyfication of polymers (includingradiationcrosslinking) ishighlyusefulmethod to enhanceproperties of polymers • Theradiationmodificationcan be run under precisecontrol, so thatpropertiescan be ‘tailord’ for specificend-use of material • Results of autors’ research show that upon radiationcrosslinking of nitrilerubber, hybridenetworkstructurecan be obtained and the general properties of suchmaterialarebetterthan of ‘classically’ – thermalycrosslinked • Theprocess of radiationcrosslinking of nitrilerubberis a promisingalternative for up-till-nowusedmethod of thermal crosslinking and can be usedin industry

13. Contact: katarzyna.bandzierz@gmail.com Thankyou for yourattention MS. Katarzyna Bandzierz Institute of Polymer and Dye Technology Faculty of Chemistry LodzUniversity of Technology, Poland