SELECTED PROPERTIES OF POLYPROPYLENE-TiO2 COMPOSITE AFTER EXPOSURE TO UV RAYS – PRELIMINARY STUDY
Piotr Olesik, Aleksander Peryt, Krzysztof Stępień, Violetta Frączek, Krzysztof Mackiewicz, Weronika Molka, Oliwia Musiał, Weronika Różańska, Marcin Jesionek
Quarterly No. 1, 2022 pages 21-24
DOI:
keywords: titanium dioxide, polypropylene, UV degradation
abstract In this study the mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP) with a small amount of TiO2, after UV-C exposure were preliminarily analyzed. The effectiveness of titanium oxide was evaluated in two alternative applications: TiO2 as the polymer filler and TiO2 as a protective outer coating. The samples were exposed to UV-C rays for 1000 hours. It was found that an addition of 5 wt% TiO2 to PP matrix results in a 60% smaller decrease in Rg after 1000 h of exposure to UV-C than in the case of neat polypropylene. It was also found that the addition of TiO2 to the polypropylene matrix is more effective than TiO2 applied as a coating component. The Rg decrease after exposure is about 35% in this case. The research confirmed that TiO2 submicrometric particles seem to be a very good component in reducing the sustainability of polypropylene to UV radiation.