Electron-beam radiation effects on the structure and properties of polypropylene at low dose rates

While the high-energy radiation effects on polypropylene, which are crucial for the cable industry for nuclear power plants, have been thoroughly studied, the property changes of PP at low-dose-rate electron-beam irradiation are far from elucidated. Herein, the influence of electron-beam irradiation on the structure and properties of PP was examined. The static EB irradiation conditions were 1.2 MeV at a low dose rate of 20 kGy/h to achieve absorbed doses ranging from 45, to 60, 100, and 200 kGy. The molecular structure was first evaluated by measuring the carboxyl index and the relative radical concentrations via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and electron spin resonance, respectively. Mechanical, differential scanning colorimetric, and rheological tests were carried out to further investigate the changes in the properties (tensile, crystalizing, and viscoelastic properties) of irradiated PP, which showed good agreement with the structural analysis results. We found that radio-oxidative degradation (chain scission) was predominant, which can be due to the low dose rate facilitating oxygen diffusion into the PP matrix during electron-beam irradiation.