Ageing properties and polymer/fuel interactions of polyamide 12 exposed to (bio)diesel at high temperature

Biodiesel derived from oil crops and animal fats has been developed as a promising carbon-neutral alternative to petroleum fuels in the transport sector, but the compatibility between biodiesel/petroleum diesel and polymer components in the automotive fuel system has not been free from controversy. In this present study, the degradation of polyamide 12 (PA12), one of the most common polymers used in vehicle fuel systems, has been investigated after exposure to petroleum diesel, biodiesel and a mixture of these (20 vol.% of biodiesel/80 vol.% petroleum diesel). Fuel sorption kinetics, glass transition temperature data and mechanical properties all showed that the fuels plasticized the PA12. In addition, monomers and oligomers were extracted from PA12 by the fuels. The long-term exposure led to oxidation and an annealing-induced increase in crystallinity of the polymer. The plasticization, oxidation and annealing effects were combined with the tensile mechanical properties to assess the overall degree of ageing and degradation of the PA12 material. The fuel-polymer interactions and ageing mechanisms, demonstrated here at high temperature for PA12, are 'generic' in the sense that they are also expected to occur, to various degrees, with many other polymers and they indicate that care should be taken when choosing polymers in applications where they will be exposed to fuels at high temperature.