Stress cracking and chemical degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) in NaOH aqueous solutions

Stress cracking is one of the most frequent causes of premature failure of polymers, affecting also engineering polymers like PET. In this work, the stress cracking behavior of injection moulded PET was investigated using sodium hydroxide (NaOH) aqueous solutions in various concentrations as active fluids. The application of mechanical load to the sample bars was done in a tensile testing machine, using the ordinary tensile test and also a relaxation procedure. The results showed that all NaOH solutions were aggressive stress cracking agents for PET, reducing mechanical properties and causing catastrophic failure with a significant surface damage. The occurrence of hydrolysis reactions was also observed when NaOH solutions were applied in combination with tensile loads, causing a reduction in molar mass of PET molecules.