The Effect of Electron Irradiation on Polybutene-1 and Its Ethylene Copolymers

Abstract

The beta irradiation, as one of several possibilities how to modify the polymer properties resulted in isotactic polybutene-1 (PB-1) and its random copolymers with ethylene (E) mainly in chain scission without chain cross-linking. The original phase I did not change by irradiation, only the transformation rate of phase II to I increased with the irradiation dose and ethylene groups in PB-1/E copolymers. Beta irradiation decreased the sample crystallinity, crystal size, and perfection.

The Influence of the Static Electrical Field on the Phase Transformation II-I of the Isotactic Polybutene-1

“…The electron and gamma irradiation of iPB-1 results mainly in chain scission [23][24], the effect on II → I transition is not reported uniformly [24]. Gamma irradiation resulted in both scission and cross linking but in a lesser extent than with polypropylene [26].…”

“…The phase transformation rate is influenced by several factors such as nucleating agents [2][3][4], ambient temperature [2][3][4], pressure [19][20][21], physical deformation, twist [22], electron and gamma irradiation [23][24][25] and a close contact with some chemical groups such as -CH 2 -, -CH-, -OH [6], which can influence the nucleation and growth of polymer crystallites. Some solid nucleating agents were partially successful mainly in drops or thin films [6,[15][16][17].…”