Natural weather aging of low density polyethylene: Effect of prodegradant additive

The present paper reports the results of studies on the effect of a prodegradant additive, named commercially as PDQ-H, on the natural weather aging in Saudi Arabia of low density polyethylene (LDPE), with special reference to the stress-strain properties, thermal behaviour, morphology and rheological properties. Incorporation of the additive caused a sharp fall in the elongation at break of LDPE on aging. Results of rheological and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopic studies and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis of the blends retrieved after aging showed that addition of the prodegradant enhanced the degradation of LDPE. Results of FTIR and gel permeation chromatography studies show that the degradation occurs due to chain scission, which is presumably followed by crosslinking. These findings are corroborated by the SEM images.