Influence of UV irradiation on the degradation of composites based on polyethylene

The study of photo degradation of polymers is an important task of the present. In particular, understanding the kinetics of these processes helps to improve the properties of polymeric materials. In this article, films based on low-density polyethylene with a content of 10-50 wt.% natural rubber were studied when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. It has been established that the addition of natural rubber to polyethylene promotes the onset of photo degradation of the resulting composite material upon irradiation at a wavelength of 254 nm. At the same time, no changes occur in the structure of 100% polyethylene under similar conditions.