Failure of Polymer Products Due to Photo-Oxidation

Author: D.W. Wright
Published: 2001
Number of Pages: 127 (This is a soft-backed is from the Rapra Review Reports, Vol. 11, No. 9, Report 129.)

The exposure of polymer surfaces to a combination of sun or artificial light, plus oxygen or other oxidising media induces degradation via photo-oxidation. The consequences include embrittlement, discolouration, loss of gloss or transparency, changes in molecular weight (usually a decrease), and accumulation of oxidation reaction products such as peroxides and hydroperoxides. Stabilisation methods described include the use of antioxidants, UV absorbers and light screens, quenchers, and radical scavengers and traps. An additional indexed section containing several hundred abstracts from the Rapra Polymer Library database gives useful references for further reading.

Author / Editor Details: During his thirty years with Rapra, Dr. Wright specialised in the failure of plastics materials and products, researching into critical issues of materials durability, such as creep, fatigue and environmental stress cracking. He published around ninety technical papers and three books, and was involved in the diagnosis of some five thousand product failures, making him a leading expert in this field.

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