Photodegradation of Heterophasic Ethylene-Propylene Copolymers in the Solid State

The photodegradations of various heterophasic ethylene-propylene (E-P) copolymer films were studied at 30 and 55°C in air for varying time intervals. The photochemical behavior of E-P copolymers is quite different from amorphous polypropylene and polyethylene homopolymers but resembles that of isotactic polypropylene. The nonvolatile products in photooxidized copolymer films have been quantitatively identified by infrared analysis. The kinetics and general oxidation mechanism scheme for E-P copolymer are presented. The identification of γ-lactone is an indication of the importance of an intramolecular back-biting process. The overall functional group distribution is found to differ from that in polyethylene and E-P copolymers.