Detection and analysis of aging and degradation of polyolefins: a review of methodologies

Robert Weiss, The University of Akron

Abstract

Although the aging and degradation of polymers is an old subject, interest and research on this subject remains at a high level. Polyolefins have been the focus in many such studies, primarily because this class of polymers is of high commercial importance with an application range that is still expanding. Another reason is that the relatively simple molecular structure of the polyolefins has always appealed to the polymer science community, offering hope that these polymers will behave in a more readily understandable fashion than more complex structures.