Rheological properties of electron beam-irradiated polypropylenes with different molar masses

Electron beam-irradiated polypropylene undergoes chain scission initiated by the loss of a proton. The resulting macroradicals can lead to branched molecules. However, the understanding of the influence of irradiation on the branching of polypropylene is still scarce. Therefore, this paper investigates structure-property relationships in such irradiated polymers. In general, irradiation yields long-chain branches, which develop from a star-like into a tree-like branching architecture with increasing dose. These conclusions can be drawn from the relation between the zero shear-rate viscosity eta (0) and the weight average molar mass M (w) as well as from the elongational behavior.