Effect of electron beam irradiation and accelerated thermal aging on properties of LLDPE copper laminates
Seung-Tae Jung1,2, Young-Chang Nho1, Jin-Kyu Kim1, Jae-Hak Choi2.
1R&D center, EB Tech Co., Ltd., Daejeon, Korea; 2Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea
Polymer materials in contact with copper, such as wires and cables, are oxidized or decomposed during irradiation, manufacturing, or use. In the case of using linear low-density polyethylene as a polymer material and copper and aluminum sheets as the metal in contact with it, we tried to analyze how the metal material in contact with the polymer affects the oxidation of the polymer. When an electric wire or cable is irradiated with an electron beam, it is crosslinked, but oxidation occurs when the polymer radicals formed by electron beam irradiation react with oxygen in the air. In addition, the wire and cable undergo aging due to heat or oxygen in the air during long-term use. In this study, linear low-density polyethylene with or without antioxidants was laminated with copper or aluminum sheets, followed by heat treatment after electron beam irradiation. The degree of oxidation of the linear low-density polyethylene in contact with the metal was evaluated after irradiation, and the deterioration behavior of the laminate was evaluated by analyzing the physical properties of the linear low-density polyethylene after accelerated aging using FTIR, DSC, and tensile strength.