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Photoinitiated crosslinking of low density polyethylene I: Reaction and kinetics
Author(s) -
Qing Yan,
Wenying Xu,
Rånby Bengt
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.760312202
Subject(s) - low density polyethylene , benzophenone , materials science , kinetics , radical , polyethylene , swelling , irradiation , degradation (telecommunications) , polymer chemistry , photochemistry , chemical kinetics , chemical engineering , composite material , organic chemistry , chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , nuclear physics , engineering , telecommunications , computer science
The kinetics of the reaction in photocrosslinking of the low density polyethylene‐benzophenone‐triallyl cyanurate (LDPE‐BP‐TAC) system was studied by theoretically deriving a kinetic equation and comparing it with the results from crosslinking, extraction and swelling experiments. It was found that the rate of crosslinking is proportional to the square of light intensity. The roles of the crosslinker (TAC) were to capture the excited initiators efficiently to form free radicals and to act as a carrier of the active radicals. The ratio of degradation/ crosslinking was extrapolated to be around 0.28, and compared with 0.44 in the γ‐irradiation process for the same material.