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IR optical properties of ZnS/ZnSe‐modified high‐density polyethylene
Author(s) -
Erismann Fernando,
Fong Hanson,
Graef Gretchen L.,
Risbud Subhash H.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19970926)65:13<2727::aid-app14>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - high density polyethylene , materials science , zinc selenide , infrared , polyethylene , composite material , embrittlement , ultraviolet , zinc sulfide , polymer , optics , optoelectronics , zinc , metallurgy , physics
The goal of this work was to find practical materials for infrared motion sensors that are more selective for IR radiation of human origin. Motion sensors used for security purposes can be vulnerable to false alarms. Along with sensitivity to infrared radiation produced by human intruders, they also sense white radiation from a number of common environmental sources. One material used for sensor optics is high‐density polyethylene (HDPE). Since pigments alter the IR absorption properties of materials, the focus of the research was to produce pigmented HDPE and to determine the optical and mechanical characteristics of the resulting materials. Different pigments added to HDPE produced varying results. One pigment, a mixture of zinc sulfide and zinc selenide, performed well in eliminating white radiation, while attenuating the IR transmittance minimally. Accelerated weathering by exposure to high‐intensity ultraviolet radiation gave information on the usefulness of the pigmented plastics for actual sensor installations. Accelerated weathering of clear HDPE and plastic pigmented with ZnS/ZnSe produced a negligible loss. Impact testing for assessment of the embrittlement of the aged plastics showed that the clear HDPE and the ZnS/ZnSe pigmented polymer failed only at high impact and long simulated aging times. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 65: 2727–2732, 1997