It well known that in essentially linear polymers the properties of the melt polymers change with increasing molecular weights and degrees of branching. This behavior was observed from data analysis of the strength of the melt polymer, drawability and gel content. In this work isotactic polypropylene (iPP) in the presence of multifunctional monomers was irradiated with gamma radiation. The monomers used were Trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) and Triallylcyanurate (TAC). iPP with TMPTA showed the highest strength in the melt and gel content, followed by TAC. It was demonstrated that TMPTA is a powerful agent to crosslinking and branching iPP. Both monomers modified the original morphology of the iPP, the melting peak shifts toward lower temperature and crystallization temperature increased during cooling after the first run. Double melting peaks were observed in the DSC thermograms, which were caused by a double lamellar thickness.
Isotactic polypropylene; multifunctional monomers; melt strength; gamma radiation; crosslinking; branching; multiple endoterma
