Synthesis and low-temperature surface decontamination performance of an ethyl cellulose-g-polyacrylate detergent

Strippable film decontamination is critical for removing radioactive surface contamination during nuclear facility decommissioning and accident response. However, the conventional detergents perform poorly in film formation, freeze easily, and are hard to spray at low temperatures (below 0 °C). In this study, a novel ethyl cellulose-g-polyacrylate (EC-g-PA) detergent was successfully synthesized via benzoyl peroxide (BPO) initiated free-radical polymerization of ethyl cellulose (EC), methyl methacrylate (MMA), butyl acrylate (BA), ethyl methacrylate (EMA), and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA). The synthesized EC-g-PA was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The film-forming and rheological properties of EC-g-PA detergents at low temperatures were systematically investigated and the mechanical properties of the EC-g-PA film were tested. Moreover, the decontamination efficiency of the EC-g-PA detergent on various plates within the temperature range from −10 °C to 25 °C was also investigated. The results demonstrate that the EC-g-PA detergent exhibits excellent low-temperature fluidity (below 0 °C) and colloidal stability. Notably, it demonstrates rapid film formation and complete peelability within 12 h under subzero conditions. The contamination decontamination rate (CDR) exceeds 90% on ceramic tiles (CT), glass (G), stainless steel (SS), and marble (M), while achieving 78.30% on concrete (C) at 0 °C. These results demonstrate that the EC-g-PA detergent shows significant potential for application in nuclear facility decommissioning and accident response at low temperatures.