A Sprayable and Visible Light Rapid-Cured Strippable Film for Surface Radioactive Decontamination

Abstract

Strippable film is effective for removing radioactive contamination. However, it still has some limitations, such as the long curing time (about 30 min~24 h) and the requirement of organic solvents. To address these issues, we report a simple protocol to prepare strippable decontamination films using liquid polybutadiene (LPB) and tert-butyl acrylate (TBA) as the raw materials without solvent and using camphorquinone/ethyl 4-dimethylaminobenzoate (CQ/EDB) as a photoinitiator, where the film was formed under household LED panel light or daylight irradiation for about 540 s. After a thorough study of viscosity, real-time Fourier transform infrared (RT-FTIR spectra), gel and volatile organic compound (VOC) contents, mechanical properties and decontamination efficiency, the optimum composition and curing conditions were determined for the decontamination strippable film. VOC content is as low as 12.7 ± 0.7% and the resultant strippable film exhibits good mechanical performances with a tensile strength of up to 5.4 ± 0.4 MPa and elongation of up to 66.6 ± 13%. Most important, the decontamination efficiencies of this strippable film for 133CsCl on glass, ceramic and metal surfaces reach up to 98.1%, 94.3% and 97.6%, respectively.

Peelable Alginate Films Reinforced by Carbon Nanofibers Decorated with Antimicrobial Nanoparticles for Immediate Biological Decontamination of Surfaces

“…Peelable/strippable coatings are defined as temporary coatings that may be peeled off as continuous and sizeable films from the substrate after the service term [13]. Examples of commercially available peelable coatings used for decontamination are ALARA 1146, DeconGel 1108, TLC Free, Isotron Radblock, and InstaCote CC Wet/CC Strip [14]. It has been observed that the curing times vary, depending on the coating thickness, between 4 and 10 h for Stripcoat TLC Free™, 18 and 32 h for DeconGel ® 1108 or 4 and 24 h for CC Wet/CC Strip [15].…”

“…UV-curable strippable films have recently gained popularity due to major advantages such as faster film formation time. However, UV light is required to cure these films, which can cause skin burns and can harm the cornea and retina [14]. Ionic crosslinking may represent a better option, since a complete curing can be achieved in a few minutes, depending on the thickness of the coating, and it involves lower health risks for the operators.…”