A brief analysis of four methods for anti-aging of plastic materials

     Because of its excellent properties such as light weight, high strength, temperature resistance and corrosion resistance, plastic materials are now widely used in many fields such as high-end manufacturing, electronic information, transportation, building energy conservation, aerospace, national defense and military industry. At present, there are the following main methods to improve and improve the anti-aging performance of polymer materials:

     1. Physical protection (such as thickening, coating, outer layer composite, etc.) The aging of polymer materials, especially photooxygen aging, first starts from the surface of the material or product, manifests as discoloration, powdering, cracking, gloss reduction, etc., and then gradually penetrates into the interior. Thin products are more likely to fail early than thick products, so the service life of the product can be extended by thickening the product. For products that are prone to aging, a coating with good weather resistance can be applied or coated on the surface of the product, or a layer of material with good weather resistance can be combined on the outer layer of the product, so that a protective layer can be attached to the surface of the product, thereby delaying the aging process.
     2. Improve the processing technology Many materials also have aging problems during synthesis or preparation. For example, the influence of heat during polymerization, thermal oxygen aging during processing, etc. Accordingly, the influence of oxygen can be mitigated by adding a deoxygenation device or a vacuum device during polymerization or processing. However, this method can only ensure the performance of the material when it leaves the factory, and this method can only be implemented from the source of the material preparation, and cannot solve its aging problem during reprocessing and use.

      3. Structural design or modification of polymer materials There are groups that are very prone to aging in the molecular structure of many polymer materials. Therefore, by designing the molecular structure of the material, replacing groups that are not prone to aging can often have good results. Or, the introduction of functional groups or structures with anti-aging effects on polymer chains through grafting or copolymerization to impart excellent anti-aging functions to the material itself is also a method commonly used by researchers, but the cost is high and large-scale production and application cannot be achieved.

      4. Add anti-aging additives At present, an effective way and common method to improve the aging resistance of polymer materials is to add anti-aging additives, which have been widely used due to their low cost and no need to change the existing production process. There are two main ways to add these anti-aging additives: Direct additive addition method: that is, directly mix and stir the anti-aging additive (powder or liquid) with resin and other raw materials, and then extrude and granulate or injection mold, etc. Because this addition method is simple and easy to use, it is widely used by the vast majority of pellet and injection molding factories. Anti-aging masterbatch addition method: In manufacturers with high requirements for product quality and quality stability, they are more likely to add anti-aging masterbatch during production.