Accelerated ageing of acrylic coatings containing metal oxide nanoparticles
Accelerated UV exposure tests on pure acrylic films and hybrid metal oxide coatings have an effect on the microstructure, as Spanish researchers showed in an experiment.
The work analyses the effect of UV radiation in a pure acrylic film, and two hybrid films, one with 1% CeO2 nanoparticles and another with 1% of ZnO nanoparticles.
Simlar differences in the three films
The long term durability of the polymeric films was studied by accelerated UV exposure ageing. The changes occurring in the polymeric films were analyzed by measuring thermal properties, molecular weight distributions (MWD), formation of cross-linked or gel structures and the morphology by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The results revealed small changes (almost negligible) in the thermal properties and morphology whereas some differences were found when the microstructure was analysed. Nevertheless, these differences were similar in the three studied films, discarding any additional degradation effect of CeO2 and ZnO nanoparticles on acrylic films.
The study is published in: Surface and Coatings Technology, Volume 321, 15 July 2017, Pages 484–490
