title: Significant Improvement in Thermal and UV Resistances of UHMWPE Fabric through in Situ Formation of Polysiloxane-TiO2 Hybrid Layers.
abstract: Anatase nanocrystalline titanium dioxide coatings were produced on ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fabric by radiation-induced graft polymerization of γ-methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (MAPS) and subsequent cohydrolysis of the graft chains (PMAPS) with tetrabutyl titanate, followed by boiling water treatment for 180 min. The resulting material was coded as UHMWPE-g-PMAPS/TiO2 and characterized by attenuated total reflection infrared spectrometry, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetry, and ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy, among others. The predominant form of TiO2 in the thin film was anatase. The coating layer was composed of two sublayers: an inner part consisting of an organic-inorganic hybrid layer to prevent photocatalytic degradation of the matrix by TiO2 film, and an outer part consisting of anatase nanocrystalline TiO2 capable of UV absorption. This UHMWPE-g-PMAPS/TiO2 composite exhibited much better thermal resistance than conventional UHMWPE fabric, as reflected by the higher melting point, decreased maximum degradation rate, and higher char yield at 700 °C. Compared with UHMWPE fabric, UHMWPE-g-PMAPS/TiO2 exhibited significantly enhanced UV absorption and excellent duration of UV illumination. Specifically, the UV absorption intensity was 2.4-fold higher than that of UHMWPE fabric; the retention of the break strength of UHMWPE-g-PMAPS/TiO2 reached 92.3% after UV irradiation. This work provides an approach for addressing the issue of self-degradation of TiO2-coated polymeric materials due to the inherent photoactivity of TiO2.
authors: CAS Center for Excellence on TMSR Energy System, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 2019 Jialuo Road, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors: Jiangtao
authors: J
authors: Hu
authors: CAS Center for Excellence on TMSR Energy System, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 2019 Jialuo Road, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, China.
authors: Qianhong
authors: Q
authors: Gao
authors: CAS Center for Excellence on TMSR Energy System, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 2019 Jialuo Road, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors: Lu
authors: L
authors: Xu
authors: CAS Center for Excellence on TMSR Energy System, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 2019 Jialuo Road, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049, China.
authors: Mingxing
authors: M
authors: Zhang
authors: CAS Center for Excellence on TMSR Energy System, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 2019 Jialuo Road, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors: Zhe
authors: Z
authors: Xing
authors: CAS Center for Excellence on TMSR Energy System, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 2019 Jialuo Road, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors: Xiaojing
authors: X
authors: Guo
authors: CAS Center for Excellence on TMSR Energy System, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 2019 Jialuo Road, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors: Kuo
authors: K
authors: Zhang
authors: CAS Center for Excellence on TMSR Energy System, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No. 2019 Jialuo Road, Jiading District, Shanghai 201800, China.
authors: Guozhong
authors: G
authors: Wu
keywords: UHMWPE fabric; UV resistance; radiation-induced graft polymerization; sol−gel process; titanium oxide