Radiological decontamination strippable coatings using PVA and PVP based core-shell polymeric scintillation materials

Strippable coatings are innovative technologies for decontamination that effectively reduce loose contamination. These coatings are polymer mixtures, such as water-based organic polymers that are applied to a surface by paintbrush, roller or spray applicator. In this study, the core-shell composite polymer for decontamination from the surface contamination was synthesized by the method of emulsion polymerization and blends of polymers. The strippable polymer emulsion is composed of the poly(styrene-ethyl acrylate) [poly(St-EA)] composite polymer, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The morphology of the composite emulsion particle was core-shell structure, with polystyrene (PS) as the core and poly(ethyl acrylate) (PEA) as the shell. Core-shell polymers of styrene (St)/ethyl acrylate (EA) pair were prepared by sequential emulsion polymerization in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as an emulsifier using ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator. Related tests and analysis confirmed the success in synthesis of composite polymer. The products are characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, TGA that were used, respectively, to show the structure, the thermal stability of the prepared polymer. Two-phase particles with a core-shell structure were obtained in experiments where the estimated glass transition temperature and the morphologies of emulsion particles. Decontamination factors (DF) of the strippable polymeric emulsion were evaluated with the polymer blend contents