The role of physical factors in photodegradation of polypropylene

Abstract

The paper is focused on the role of physical factors such as thickness or mode of processing in photodegradation of isotactic polypropylene. Specimens were prepared by compression moulding and injection moulding. Subsequently, they were exposed to UV radiation in accelerated ageing device. The extent of degradation was determined by FTIR and ATR. Degradation profile was observed by micro-infrared spectroscopy. It is demonstrated that the degradation changes are influenced by processing history and dimension of the specimens.