The Effect of Degradation and Stabilization on the Mechanical Properties of Polymers Using Polypropylene Blends as the Main Example

Degradation can result from a variety of chemical, physical and mechanical mechanisms, most of them involving a reduction of molecular weight and thus a decrease in the mechanical performance of the degraded polymer. A clear understanding and control of these mechanisms is absolutely essential: without stabilization some polymers (e.g. PVC, polyolefins) would not survive their processing undamaged. In this paper an overview of the different degradation mechanisms, their effect on molecular chains, and the methods used to characterize the extent of degradation will be given. Subsequently we establish some fundamental relationships between the microstructure and the mechanical performance (of thermoplastic polymers) using differently aged and stabilized polypropylene (PP) ‐ EPR compounds. In particular we investigate the influence of two types of heat stabilizers ( phenolic antioxidants and hindered amine stabilizer HAS) on the degradation behaviour of test specimens thermally aged at 120 and 135°C respectively. From an investigation of the changes with aging time in structure and low‐strain properties (yield stress, strain at yield, tensile modulus) and from the differences in the evolution of the fracture properties a molecular model of the chain scission mechanisms and of inter‐lamellar connectivity (through tie‐chain molecules) has been established, which allowed an explanation of the gradual change of the dominant deformation mechanism from cold drawing to crazing and brittle fracture.