Study and characterization of LDPE/Polyolefin elastomer and LDPE/EPDM blend: effect of chlorinated water on blend performance

The free chlorine present in water which is used as a disinfectant is reported to reduce the life of the polymeric material. The objective of this work is to study the influence of chlorine concentration on low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and blends of LDPE with ethylene butene copolymer (EBC) and ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM). The LDPE blend with EBC and EPDM were tested with water containing 50, 500, and 5000 ppm chlorine under static condition for 500 h at 25 and 80 °C. It has been seen that at 5000 ppm chlorine concentration, the mechanical properties of LDPE, LDPE/EBC blend, and LDPE/EPDM blend changed drastically and a significant reduction in the elongation at break was found for LDPE, LDPE/EBC, and LDPE/EPDM blend. LDPE/EPDM shows stable modulus value for 5000 ppm as 80 °C. Chemical changes in the aged sample were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) where an increase in the O-H and C=O peaks were observed. The thermal characteristics of LDPE, LDPE/EBC blend, and LDPE/EPDM blends were investigated using DSC and TGA which shows that the melting temperature and crystalline melt temperature remains unchanged while percent crystallinity increases slightly. Scanning electron microscope showed that there was the formation of microcracks and cavities on the fracture surface of LDPE, LDPE/EBC blend, and LDPE/EPDM blend after exposure to a higher concentration of chlorine indicative of degradation. Furthermore, the Chlorine resistance of LDPE/EPDM blend at 5000 ppm chlorine concentration is much higher than that of pristine LDPE.