Radiation crosslinking of polypropylene in the presence of monomers incapable of homopolymerization

The process of the radiation crosslinking of PP which makes it possible to achieve gelation at a low irradiation dose was studied. An efficient crosslinking is ensured if a pair of monomers (vinylalkoxysilane and maleic anhydride) incapable of homopolymerization is used as a crosslinking additive. The mechanism of the crosslinking process was examined. It was shown that γ-irradiation of PP carried out in the presence of the above compounds leads to the grafting of each monomer onto PP as single units and to the chemical interaction between the functional groups of the grafted fragments to yield crosslinks between the macrochains of PP.