Microstructure Studies on Commercially Available Heat Shrinkable Polymeric Materials

The thermally activated polymer shrinkage were studied with the aim to investigate the characteristics and behavior of commercially available heat shrinkable polymeric materials (CHSPM). There are four major phases of the studies; information collection, the gas temperature profile of a Bunsen Burner flame, experimental, the analyzing of the tested material through macroscopic and microscopic examinations as well as elemental and chemical composition determination. The significance of collecting this information is to get the overview of the product in order to help in predicting the results for the experiment and analysis. A gas flame temperature profile has been conducted and temperature range of 100 – 200°C with 8 to 10 seconds heating exposure will be used for the experiment. The experiment has been conducted and the results show that the heated region has shrinked with ratio of less than 2:1. The heated region has grainy texture and more stiffer than the original condition. The results from Optical Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscope have qualitatively proved the results obtained from the experiment. Through elemental analysis by using Energy Dispersive X-Ray detector, and chemical composition analysis by using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, the mechanism of the shrinkage is said to be the crosslinking process. From all the results obtained from this study, we can conclude that CHSPM will shrink when it is being exposed to any heat source at moderate temperature for a short period of time. Through crosslinking process, CHSPM has increased its mechanical properties that make it be more stiffer without being rupture at all. Thus, make it be the versatile insulation product in the market nowadays.