The antioxidant effect in controlling thermal degradation of a LDPE blow film

It is well known that antioxidants are widely used to prevent thermal degradation of high density and linear low density polyethylene. Antioxidants are not always present in low density polyethylene and only small amounts are usually added to these resins. In this work the effect of an antioxidant system on a low density resin having MFI (190 °C/2.16 kg)=2 g/10′ and density 0.9230 g/cm3 has been studied. Its effect on melt viscosity has been studied by means of a batch mixer and the torque vs time behaviour has been analysed. The results show that a maximum in the torque vs time curve can be seen for the material containing antioxidant. In contrast, the material without antioxidant does not…