Journal of Radiation Research and Radiation Processing, Volume. 43, Issue 4, 040201(2025)

Protecting and sensitive monitoring radiation aging of silicone rubber using a profluorescent nitroxide probe

Zhendong HUANG, Ruiyang DOU, Xiangling CHEN, Bowen DAI, Wei HUANG, Qiang LIU, and Hongbing CHEN*
Author Affiliations
  • Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900, China
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    Silicone rubber is widely used in radiation environments, such as the nuclear industry and aerospace, due to its excellent properties. However, irradiation can cause performance degradation. This study proposes the introduction of coumarin-based profluorescent nitroxide radicals (PC343) into silicone rubber to achieve both radiation aging protection and sensitive monitoring. PC343 was uniformly introduced into silicone rubber (SR-P) via a swelling method. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy confirmed that PC343 reacts with radiation-generated free radicals in silicone rubber, demonstrating free radical scavenging ability. Gas-phase infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that PC343 could reduce the production of alkane gases (the alkane yield of SR-P irradiated at a dose of 1 kGy was approximately 40% lower than that of pure silicone rubber), indicating its radiation protection effect. Fluorescence spectra revealed that PC343 regained strong fluorescence characteristics through radical capture. The fluorescence intensity of SR-P increased with the increasing dose after irradiation, and the aging behavior from 500 Gy to 5 kGy could be sensitively characterized. The experiments demonstrated that the introduction of PC343 simultaneously achieves dynamic protection against irradiation aging and real-time monitoring in silicone rubber. This strategy provides a novel approach for improving the service reliability of silicone rubber in radiation environments.

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    Zhendong HUANG, Ruiyang DOU, Xiangling CHEN, Bowen DAI, Wei HUANG, Qiang LIU, Hongbing CHEN. Protecting and sensitive monitoring radiation aging of silicone rubber using a profluorescent nitroxide probe[J]. Journal of Radiation Research and Radiation Processing, 2025, 43(4): 040201

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    Paper Information

    Category: RADIATION CHEMISTRY

    Received: Feb. 22, 2025

    Accepted: Mar. 25, 2025

    Published Online: Sep. 26, 2025

    The Author Email: Hongbing CHEN (陈洪兵)

    DOI:10.11889/j.1000-3436.2025-0016

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