Oxidative degradation of polyethylene in the presence of phase transfer catalyst: Part I—Infrared studies

Abstract

Oxidative degradation of polyethylene has been carried out with phase transferred permanganate as oxidant. The degradation products have been characterised by infrared spectroscopy in an attempt to clucidate the probable degradation mechanism. The oxidised polyethylenes are found to possess carbonyl, ether, hydroperoxy and several types of olefinic groups. Using FT-IR spectra, the quantitative determination of the different functional groups has also been carried out. While the initiation and termination steps are common to all PTC oxidations of low density polyethylene, the propagation in the tetrabutyl ammonium bromide (TBAB)-catalysed process occurs through intramolecular hydrogen abstraction and chain scission.