Abstract
Silane-crosslinked polyethylene (Si-XLPE) is the first candidate polymer that can be used in the photovoltaic systems connection cables because its resistance to the weathering conditions. The idea of the carried out work in this paper is how we can benefit from the existing weathering conditions that looked to be similar to those necessary in the silane-crosslinking process of polyethylene to enhance the crosslinking capability? The adopted methodology consists to conduct a long-term cyclic accelerated weathering aging in the QUV aging test cell on the extruded silane-grafted polyethylene films (cross-linkable polyethylene). The possible crosslinking behavior and the photo and thermo-oxidation degradation were assessed by macroscopic (Hot-Set-Test and mechanical properties) and microscopic (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)) technics. The obtained results highlight that the applied cyclic weathering aging leads to an outcome crosslinking reaction. The crosslinking degree increases progressively with aging time leading to an elastic behavior of the polymer. More the crosslinking degree increases the Hot-Set-Test elongation decreases. The macroscopic observations agree well with the FTIR measurements where we have noticed big changes in the digital fingerprint of the material. The changes in the digital fingerprint are caused by the transformation of silane into Si–O–Si links. The absorption band of Si–O–Si link at 1030 cm−1 increases with the aging time increase. Besides this, it is evidenced from our study that mechanical properties and carbonyl index behave in a very similar way (an increase in the former leads to the decrease in the latter in each case) which put in evidence that the same mechanisms are responsible for both behaviors. The probable scenario for this behavior is that the oxidation process leads to a chain session process. The chain session has a dramatic effect on the mechanical properties that decrease in a fast way. The overall conclusion is that the possible crosslinking is done in three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination.
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Afeissa, S., Boukezzi, L., Bessissa, L., Loucif, A. (2022). A Possible Crosslinking Behavior of Silane-Crosslinkable Polyethylene Under Cyclic Accelerated Weathering Aging. In: Vaseashta, A., Achour, M.E., Mabrouki, M., Fasquelle, D., Tachafine, A. (eds) Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on Dielectric Materials and Applications (ISyDMA’6). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11397-0_13
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