Electron Beam Crosslinking of Polyolefin Films for Various Packaging Applications

摘要

Radiation crosslinking comprising of gamma rays from a Co60 source and even high energy electron crosslinking from > 1 MeV accelerators have been commercial since 1960's. These applications were mostly for the wire and cable industry, rubber tires, and some high barrier shrink film applications for meat packaging introduced by Cryovac. Since the development of low voltage electron beam accelerators in the < 300 kV range, in particular in the 125kV range the use of EB crosslinking has found new applications and markets particularly in the packaging industry. What are these markets, and what properties are achieved by electron beam irradiation of polyolefin films used in packaging will be presented. In addition theory of electron beam crosslinking will be discussed in detail.