Photo-oxidative degradation of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate and polyethylene based films

摘要

The photo-oxidative degradation of films based on polyethylene and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) is studied. Application of infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, mechanical strength analysis, and oxygen uptake measurements to studying photoinduced aging shows that the rates of oxidative and photo-oxidative degradation increase with the concentration of PHB in the mixture. It is found that PHB acts as an initiator of the photo-oxidation of polyethylene in the mixture. The greater the surface area of the interphase boundary in the polymer mixture, the more intense oxidation occurs at the initial stage.