Study of the effects of gamma irradiation on the structure and physical properties of low density polyethylene films containing hindered amine stabilizers

The effect of gamma-irradiation on the structure, rheology, and mechanical properties of low density polyethylene (LDPE) films containing some new hindered amine stabilizers (HAS) has been investigated and the results obtained were compared to additive free samples. The HAS used involved various structures such as an alkoxyamine, a polymer bound HAS and a HAS modified with siloxane; these are commercially known as Tinuvin 123, Sanduvor PR 31 and Uvasil 299, respectively. It was found that the carbonyl index values measured by FTIR spectroscopy increased linearly with the radiation dose for all the samples studied, however this increase was less pronounced for the stabilized samples. The formation rates of carbonyls followed the order LDPE > LDPE/Uvasil 299 > LDPE/PR 31 > LDPE/Tinuvin 123. The second order derivative UV analysis showed the formation of vinyl groups in the irradiated samples at higher doses (812 kGy), while vinylidene groups were detected only in the films stabilized with PR 31 and Tinuvin 123. The curves of the melt flow rate (MFR) exhibited a fast increase for the unstabilized sample after 67 kGy, indicating the occurrence of chain scission. The stabilized samples on the other hand showed an evident increase in MFR from almost 300 kGy. The contribution of different HAS for the durability of LDPE films under T rays was evaluated by determining the half-value-dose, which is related to the radiation resistance of the material. The results indicated that the presence of HAS in LDPE films improves the half-value-dose of those stabilized with Tinuvin 123 by 2.5 times against 2.4 and 2 for PR 31 and Uvasil 299, respectively. These data correlate well with the results obtained by FTIR and MFR measurements. Finally, the higher efficiency of Tinuvin 123 could be assigned to its appropriate oxidation state to enter the stabilization mechanism directly.