Phenylphosphine oxide-containing aromatic polyamide films with high atomic oxygen erosion resistance

A kind of aromatic polyamide (PA) film containing phenylphosphine oxide group (PPO) was prepared. The experiment results indicated that the incorporation of the PPO group protects the PA film from eroding by atomic oxygen (AO), as compared with a kind of common aromatic polyamide (PA) without PPO groups. The chemical composition, surface morphology, mass loss, optical properties and tensile strength of the two samples, before and after AO irradiation, were compared in detail. XPS results indicated that, during the AO exposure, a passive phosphate rich layer, which protected the following under-layer from attacking by AO, was formed on the PA surface with PPO segments. SEM micrographs showed the surface morphology of both films changed intuitively. However, the PA with PPO segments didn't take out so much surface change during the irradiation. The surface of PA was changed from smooth before irradiation, to a carpet-like character after 2 h irradiation and to a tree-root feature after 6 h irradiation. PA film with PPO segments also turned out lower mass change, less tensile strength reduction, and higher transmission after the AO irradiation as compared with the common PA film. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.