Photodegradation of SF6 on polyisoprene surface: implication on elimination of toxic byproducts

Photodegradation of SF(6) was performed on the surface of polyisoprene (PI) based on a brand new mechanism of "controlled release of radicals". Effective decomposition of SF(6) (60% of SF(6) was degraded in 4h) was achieved due to the highly reductive radicals (mainly allylic radicals and excited CC bond) which were generated from the photolysis of PI. No toxic fluoride was detected by FT-IR. The PI irradiated for 200 h in SF(6) circumstance was examined by XPS to be doped with fluorine and sulfur. Fouling due to photoinitiated polymerization on UV lamp was avoided because the radicals were released slowly. Photolysis of SF(6) in pure argon with the presence of irradiated PI showed kinetics of pseudo-first-order reaction and the degradation rate constant was 5.16 x 10(-5)s(-1). Factors which may affect the photolysis process such as introduction of O(2) and H(2)O were also examined.