Photo-crosslinking of Linear Low Density Polyethylene

Cross-linked linear low density polyethylene(XL-LLDPE) was prepared by UV irradiation.The effect of irradiation time on gel content and equilibrium swelling ratio were studied,and the tensile strength and vicat softening temperature of XL-LLDPE under different time of UV irradiation were mensurated.The result shows that the cross-linking reaction proceeds rapidly,and the optimal duration of UV irradiation is 30s.The gel content of the XL-LLDPE increases with the increasing of irradiation time,while the equilibrium swelling ratio tends to decrease.The tensile strength and elongation at break decrease after cross-linking reaction,but the heat resistance of the XL-LLDPE is better than that of virgin LLDPE obviously.