Investigation on the recombination kinetics of the pyrolytic free-radicals in the irradiated polyimide

The free radical behavior of 60 and 110 keV proton-irradiated polyimide were investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance measurements. The results indicate that during proton irradiation, a type of pyrolytic carbon free radical was formed with a g value of 2.0025. The radical population was found, after proton irradiation to decrease in a combination of an exponential and linear modes with an annealing time in the range of 50–120 °C. The exponential part indicated a radical recombination process while the linear part is due to the reaction of the radical with the ambient. Using the annealing results, the recombination activation energy of the radicals was determined as 12.4 ± 0.2 and 17.6 ± 0.2 kJ/mol for 60 and 110 keV irradiated polyimide, respectively, with a surface reaction rate of about 0.02/h. It is possible that the kinetic study presented here is used as one of the criteria for predicting the optical properties of polyimide material in spacecraft. The mechanism of the free radical evolution will be discussed in this paper.

► Free radicals behavior was exposure during the irradiation and anneal during the post storage.
► Both of the recombination and oxygen reaction affect the post-annealing evolution of free radicals.
► The activation energy and the surface reaction rate were calculated by the analysis of the free radical anneal process.