Corrosion Behavior of Glass-filled Polyoxymethylene Resin in an Ozone Environment

Abstract

We investigated the influence of fillers on the deterioration of polyoxymethylene resin (POM) in ozone generated by electric discharge. The extent of deterioration was evaluated by studying the weight and thickness changes, three-point flexural strength, appearance and molecular weight of the resin. The weight and thickness of the material linearly decreased after the incubation period ; each surface gradually roughened by chalking. Flexural strengths are decreased with decrease in exposed time. Size exclusion chromatography measurements indicated that the degradation of POM by ozone proceeded via corrosion-layer formation and was limited to layers near the specimen surface, whereas the inner layer showed barely any deterioration. The corrosion rate was estimated from the thickness of the corrosion layer and residual thickness of the uncorroded layer. The flexural strength after exposure could be predicted from this estimated corrosion rate. In this study, even after adding fillers, no significant delay was observed in resin deterioration by ozone.