Photochemical degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate). I. Irradiation experiments with the xenon and carbon arc

Abstract

synopsisPoly(ethy1ene terephthalate) films were irradiated in a carbon-arc Fade-Ometer and in a xenon-arc Weather-Ometer. The changes in tensile properties, intrinsic viscosities, infrared absorption, and fluorescence emission spectra resulting from these irradiations were measured. Quantitative comparisons between changes in surface (ATR) and transmission infrared spectra, in conjunction with the other results obtained, have established the importance of surface reactions in the photodeterioration of poly(ethy1ene terephthalate).

Evaluation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) photostabilisation using FTIR spectrometry of evolved carbon dioxide

“…The photodegradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) exposed to different UV sources and in different atmospheres was studied extensively by Wiles and co-workers in the early 1970s [1][2][3][4]. They proposed mechanisms of chain-scission and cross-link formation and showed that the reactions also generate both fluorescent compounds and carbon dioxide.…”

Accelerated UV ageing studies of acrylic, alkyd, and polyvinyl acetate paints: Influence of inorganic pigments

“…Therefore the increase of PhA1/PhA2 detected by the double-shot of Py-GS/MS in the UV aged alkyd may suggest that the carbonyl phthalic ester undergoes to photooxidation reactions through Norrish type I reaction. It has been reported that aromatic polyesters are prone to photolysis and photo-oxidized by Norrish I photo-cleavage as main initiation step of photo-degradation[15][16][17][18][19]. Scheme 1 shows 2 different possibilities of cleavage of the ester group creating 4 different primary radicals.…”

Photodegradation Processes In Polymeric Materials

“…The photoageing of PET [46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] reported to be similar to that of PBT (poly (butylene terephthalate)) [55][56][57][58][59] has been the center of some interest in the literature. When sunlight falls onto PET, the monomer units absorb energy of short wavelength in the near-UV range: this is particularly so for the ester groups in a-position to the aromatic rings.…”