Accelerating role of clay in photo-oxidation of polypropylene/clay multifilament yarns

Photo-oxidative degradation of polypropylene/clay multifilament yarns containing different amounts of clay was investigated. These samples and pure polypropylene (PP) multifilametns were exposed to long wavelength radiations (λ> 300 nm) under atmospheric condition of constant temperature and relative humidity. The photo-oxidative stability was studied using FTIR spectroscopy, tensile testing and microscopy. The results indicate that the addition of clay particles decreases the stability of PP/clay composites to photo-oxidative degradation according to comparison with pure PP. From FTIR study and tensile properties, it was also found that the multifilaments with higher clay loading reveals a faster loss of mechanical properties, higher photo-oxidative product formation and more reduction in the induction time of photo-oxidation. Moreover, the crack formation on surface of irradiated filaments corresponds well to the conclusions in tensile properties and FTIR characterization.