Suppression of the oxidative degradation of polymer by sputtered silicon oxide coating

The radiation-induced oxidative degradation of polypropylene was studied. It is well known that the irradiated polymers react gradually with the air and decrease their mechanical properties for long-term storage. In this work, silicon oxide films were formed on polypropylene by sputtering to suppress the permeation of oxygen during the gamma-ray irradiation. Samples were stored in air for a long time and measured the chemical structure and the mechanical properties to obtain effects of the oxygen barrier coating. From the results, we found that such coatings have a good effect on suppressing the oxidative degradation for long-term storage