The impact of disinfected water on the degradation of polyethylene (PE) was investigated with immersion tests of two PE pipe materials in 10 and 5 ppm chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) medium at 60 °C. Aging experiments in 1 ppm ClO₂ at 60, 50 and 40 °C were also carried out to study the effect of different aging temperatures. During conditioning, the pH was kept at 6.8. A specific exposure device with continuous concentration control and adjustment has been applied in order to generate reliable and reproducible aging conditions. Sample characterization applying scanning electron microscopy (SEM), tensile test, dynamic oxidation tests as well as FTIR-spectroscopy indicated accelerated antioxidant consumption and polymer degradation. Material aging at 50 °C and above was found to be much faster than at 40 °C applying 1 ppm ClO₂ concentration. An optimized testing condition for fast material characterization in case of 1 mm thick specimens was found to be a concentration of 1 ppm ClO₂ at 50 °C. The simultaneously increasing material embrittlement and the consumption of active antioxidant molecules imply an apparent unselective reaction of ClO₂ with the polymer and the stabilizers molecules. Moreover, the radical nature and the high reactivity of ClO₂ led to the formation of carbon-chlorine species, which are assumed to originate from degraded antioxidant molecules.

通过将两种PE管材在60°C的10和5 ppm二氧化氯（ClO ₂）介质中进行浸没测试，研究了消毒水对聚乙烯（PE）降解的影响。1 ppm ClO _2中的老化实验还分别在60、50和40°C下进行了研究，以研究不同时效温度的影响。在调节期间，pH保持在6.8。为了产生可靠和可再现的老化条件，已经使用了具有连续浓度控制和调节功能的特定曝光设备。使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM），拉伸试验，动态氧化试验以及FTIR光谱对样品进行表征表明，抗氧化剂的消耗加快了，聚合物降解了。发现在50°C或更高温度下的材料老化比使用1 ppm ClO ₂浓度在40°C下的材料老化快得多。发现在厚度为1 mm的样品中进行快速材料表征的最佳测试条件是ClO ₂的浓度为1 ppm在50°C下。同时增加的材料脆性和活性抗氧化剂分子的消耗暗示了ClO ₂与聚合物和稳定剂分子的明显的非选择性反应。此外，ClO ₂的自由基性质和高反应活性导致形成了碳-氯物质，据推测这是由于降解的抗氧化剂分子引起的。