Chemiluminescence as a Probe of Polymer Oxidation

Idriss Blakey; Ben Goss; Graeme George

doi:10.1071/CH06174

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Chemiluminescence as a Probe of Polymer Oxidation

Idriss Blakey ^A ^B , Ben Goss ^A ^C and Graeme George ^A ^D

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD 4000, Australia.

^B Present address: Centre for Magnetic Resonance and Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Australia.

^C Present address: AO Spine Reference Centre, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059, Australia.

^D Corresponding author. Email: g.george@qut.edu.au

Idriss Blakey currently holds a Smart State Research Fellowship at the University of Queensland, where he develops polymeric materials for semiconductor manufacture, biosensors and biomaterials. From 2000 to 2003 he was a Research Scientist at Polymerat (now Biolayer), and was awarded a Ph.D. in 2001 from the Queensland University of Technology.

Ben Goss is a Smart State Research Fellow working on the development of new polymers for orthopaedic surgery at Queensland University of Technology’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation. He completed his Ph.D. in kinetic modelling of polymer oxidation. He was awarded a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral fellowship, during which he studied the effect of catalyst residue concentration on polymer oxidation. He returned to Brisbane to establish a research group in biomaterials for spinal orthopaedics at the AO Spine Reference centre based at QUT and the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

Graeme George is Professor of Polymer Science at Queensland University of Technology and leads a research group applying spectroscopic techniques to the polymerization, structure, and performance of thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers and biopolymers. He is also a Program Leader on polymers for sustainable development in the Co-operative Research Centre for Polymers. His research contributions have been recognized by the award of the Applied Research Medal (1994) and the Polymer Medal (2006) by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and medals by the Slovak Academy of Science (2003) and the Département du Rhône, France (2004) for his contributions to international polymer science.

Australian Journal of Chemistry 59(8) 485-498 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH06174
Submitted: 23 May 2006 Accepted: 21 July 2006 Published: 8 September 2006

Abstract

Many oxidation reactions of organic materials, including polymers, are accompanied by the emission of weak chemiluminescence (CL). From a study of the mechanism of this weak CL, it is shown that the time development of the CL intensity may provide the kinetics of the oxidation reaction and is thus a sensitive probe of the degradation of the material. The intensity of emission reflects the concentration of peroxidic species in the material. Whereas the kinetics of the oxidation may be described by a series of elementary, homogeneous free radical reactions, the use of imaging techniques has shown that the oxidation of polymers such as polypropylene is highly heterogeneous. A model that describes the oxidation as spreading through the material as an infection from a number of initiating sites is able to rationalize these observations and provide a new approach to the prediction of the useful lifetime of a polymeric material.

Acknowledgments

The financial support of the Australian Research Council through Discovery and Linkage grants is acknowledged. We also thank Mr James Blinco for the use of Fig. 2.

References

Chemiluminescence as a Probe of Polymer Oxidation

Abstract

Acknowledgments

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