Effect of Aging on Film Properties of Ethylene-Alpha Olefin Copolymers, 2002 PLACE Conference Proceedings
Film toughness of certain ethylene – alpha olefin copolymers of high impact strength, shows significant aging
effects, decreasing with time. In this work we studied the time and temperature dependence of film aging of several
copolymers of varying molecular structure. Film aging appears to be associated with the presence of highly
branched polymer chains (>30 branches per 1000 carbon atoms). It is speculated that the thermally activated
rearrangement of such branched species, over time and under film storage conditions, leads to film aging. Higher
film storage temperatures lead to faster aging. It is possible to employ an “accelerated aging” testing protocol, so as
to obtain longer-term aged data from a short-term test, which would be useful in an industrial production setting.