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Thermal aging study of PEEK for nuclear power plant containment dome

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Abstract

The poly(ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) insulation material used in the containment dome of nuclear power plant was aged by thermal aging method with an aging period of 14 days and accelerated aging at different temperatures. The mechanical properties, crystallization behavior and thermal properties were analyzed. The results showed that the fracture strength increased with the aging temperature before 290 ℃, and decreased after 290 ℃. The results of infrared spectra analyses showed that with the increase of aging temperature, the intensity of methyl absorption peak at 2916 cm−1 and 2849 cm−1 increased. At the early aging temperature, the carbonyl index basically did not change. As the aging temperature increased, the carbonyl index gradually increased in steps and the ratio of 1310 cm−1 and 1285 cm−1 bands declined linearly. Thermal-gravimetric test results showed that the residual weight of the material became smaller and smaller with the increase of aging temperature, and the maximum decomposition temperature of the material decreased gradually. DSC analysis showed that the melting peak temperature, crystallization peak temperature, enthalpy and crystallinity decreased.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Innovation Project of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. 2019-03).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Artificial Intelligence, Suzhou Chien-Shiung Institute of Technology, Suzhou, 215411, China

    Cuimiao Zhu

  2. CGN-DELTA (Taicang) Testing Technology Co., Ltd, Suzhou, 215400, China

    Haisong Zhang & Jianxi Li

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  1. Cuimiao Zhu
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  2. Haisong Zhang
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Correspondence to Cuimiao Zhu.

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Zhu, C., Zhang, H. & Li, J. Thermal aging study of PEEK for nuclear power plant containment dome. J Polym Res 29, 5 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-021-02839-w

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