Damage of polymer blends polylactide-polyethylene under the effect of ultraviolet irradiation

Exposure to ultraviolet light, moisture, air oxygen, and micro-organisms accompany polymers and products made from them throughout their entire service life. The paper shows the influence of one of the aggressive environmental factors—ultraviolet radiation with a wavelength of 365 nm on compositions based on polylactide and polyethylene. It was found that after 300 hours of exposure to UV radiation, the degree of crystallinity of polylactide decreases by 5–10%, which indicates the degradation of the crystal phase. The tensile strength and elongation at break also decrease when irradiated for 300 hours. IR spectroscopy also shows the beginning of material degradation.