Lifetime prediction and aging mechanism of glass fiber-reinforced acrylate-styrene-acrylonitrile/polycarbonate composite under long-term thermal and oxidative conditions

Materials with lower dielectric loss and greater thermal and mechanical properties have drawn public attention with the rapid development of 5G technology. However, the mastery and understanding of the aging mechanism and working lifetime of these specific materials remain an open challenge. Here, we designed a glass fiber (GF)-reinforced acrylate-styrene-acrylonitrile/polycarbonate (ASA/GF/PC) composite and systematically investigated its aging behavior, aging mechanism, and lifetime prediction under long-term thermal and oxidative conditions. The aging behaviors regarding the mechanical, dielectric properties and color change were deeply analyzed at four aging temperatures. Results indicated that impact strength was applicable to estimate working lifetime. Assisted by general Arrhenius kinetic models, the predicted lifetimes were 22,334 days at 303 K, 8605 days at 313 K, 3517 days at 323 K, and 1516 days at 333 K, respectively. The study of aging mechanism confirmed that thermal degradation inevitably occurred in the ASA and PC phases, which provoked the appearance of newborn oxygen-containing groups and further induced the generation of cross-linked domains. The desired results provide a valuable reference to guide the widespread and long-term utilization of ASA/GF/PC composites in 5G technology.