Environmental stress cracking (ESC) of plastics caused by non‐ionic surfactants

Abstract

The susceptibility of various plastics to environmental stress cracking (ESC) was studied using a variety of agents in common use. It was found that styrenic polymers are susceptible to ESC by many kinds of agents, including detergents, that have non-ionic surfactants as their components. The ESC of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymer caused by non-ionic surfactants was studied intensively, and the dependence of crack propagation behavior on temperature and on the kind of non-ionic surfactants was investigated by edge crack tension (ECT) tests. The morphology at the crack tip of ECT specimens was investigated by a transmission electron microscope (TEM). It was found that crack propagation behavior was closely related to the morphology at the crack tip and the morphology was affected by temperature and type of surfactants. The change in morphology at different experimental conditions was attributable to the difference in the solubility and diffusivity of surfactants at the crack tips. -420 POLYMER

Stress cracking and chemical degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) in NaOH aqueous solutions

“…Therefore, the investigation of ESC behavior of this polymer is of much practical interest and some work was done throughout years. [12][13][14][21][22][23] However, the identification of the most critical stress cracking agents for PET as well as the description of the failure mechanisms still need further attention. In the case of the action of sodium hydroxide solution on PET, there is not a consensus whether the phenomenon is stress cracking, chemical attack, or both occurring simultaneously.…”

Miscibility and Mechanical Properties of High-Impact Polystyrene Blended with Poly(α-olefin) Grease

“…As mentioned in Introduction, the chemical stress crack phenomenon has been proposed to be governed by the affinity between the plastic material and attached solvent, and by the diffusivity of the solvent into the materials. [11][12][13][14][15][16] In the above section, we have pointed out that the miscibility of HIPS/PO system depends on the molecular weight of PO. Therefore it should be reasonable that high molecular weight grease is inert against HIPS because of its bad miscibility and slow diffusivity.…”

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16] from the chamber. It should be noted that the used grease has ability for lubricating, so slipping between the melted polymer and chamber wall was occurred easily, and it was difficult to obtain homogeneous mixture sample with high grease content.…”

Susceptibility to Stress Corrosion Cracking of Selected Amorphous Polymer Materials in a Sea-Water Environment

“…Scientists indicate the need to conduct research related to the occurrence of stress corrosion cracking in polymeric materials to assess the reliability of their operation under specific conditions. Research conducted by T. Kawaguchi et al, [8] showed that for ABS (acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene), crack propagation caused by stress corrosion cracking occurs at room temperature under the influence of non-ionic surfactants. P. Dunn et al, [9] showed that polyamide does not show a significant relationship between crack propagation and loading speed.…”