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Effects of gamma irradiation on 3D‑printed polylactic acid (PLA) and high‑density polyethylene (HDPE) Ahmad Alsabbagh1   · Rabie Abu Saleem1 · Rashed Almasri1 · Sewar Aljarrah2 · Samia Awad1 Received: 10 April 2020 / Revised: 11 August 2020 / Accepted: 17 August 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020

Abstract Effect of gamma radiation on the mechanical and structural properties of polylactic acid (PLA) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is analyzed. Samples were irradiated in ambient conditions with doses in the range of (0–175 kGy) using 60Co gamma irradiation facility. Experimental results showed a clear effect of gamma radiation on polymer properties through the action of crosslinking, chain scission and oxidative degradation. Tensile testing results for both polymers showed a decrease in the tensile strength and ductility at high irradiation doses, suggesting that the effect of both chain scission and oxidative degradation is dominant over crosslinking for higher doses. Results from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy show that signature peaks of both PLA and HDPE were present after irradiation indicating that exposure to gamma radiation does not lead to diminishing their corresponding structural modes. Nevertheless, new peaks were observed upon irradiation of HDPE samples. These new peaks are attributed to modes of different oxygen bonds in oxidation products such as carbonyl groups and alcohol groups. Finally, X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that both polymers exhibit increased crystallinity with increased radiation exposure due to chain splitting that is stimulated by oxidative reactions.

Introduction In order to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of plastic waste accumulations featuring traditional polymers, considerable research efforts have been devoted over the years to explore the use of polymeric biodegradable materials in * Ahmad Alsabbagh [email protected] 1

Nuclear Engineering Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan

2

Chemical Engineering Department, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan



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Polymer Bulletin

the plastics manufacturing industry [1, 2]. Biodegradable polymers can be microbially broken down into different simple components such as carbon dioxide, methane and water by means of biological processes of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi and suchlike. Moreover, the degradation products are neither toxic nor carcinogenic to the human body, making it an excellent material for a variety of applications such as biomedical applications that includes sutures, clips, and drug delivery systems (DDS) [3, 4]. Polylactic Acid (PLA) is a promising family of plastics that is produced by chemical processing of bio-derived monomers [4]. Being derived from renewable resources, PLA has some attractive features such as biodegradability and low manufacturing costs. On the other hand, polyethylene, one of the most widely