Adhesive behavior of UV pre-treated polyolefins

The effect of surface modification of polyolefin, mainly isotactic polypropylene and low-density polyethylene, by UV irradiation and phosphoryl chloride on its adhesive behavior was investigated. A non-linear increase of the surface free energy, its polar component and strength of adhesive joint to more polar polymer was observed. The effect of modification of polyolefins was strongly depended on the intensity of the UV radiation. The obtained values of the strength of adhesive joints to polyvinyl acetate correspond with the measured level of hydrophilicity of modified polyolefin.