All commercial organic polymers will degrade in air when exposed to sunlight, although there is a very wide range of photo-oxidative susceptibilities. It is usually the absorption of near ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths which leads to bond-breaking reactions and the concomitant loss of useful physical properties and/or discoloration. Exposure to sunlight can have adverse effects on the useful great interest of plastic products. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation can break down the chemical bonds in a polymer. Photo-degradation causes cracking, chalking, color changes and the loss of physical properties....

Polymer science is, of course, driven by the desire to produce new materials for new applications. The success of materials suchas polyethylene, polypropylene, poly(vinyl chloride) and polystyrene is such that these materials are manufactured on a huge scaleand are indeed ubiquitous.It is widely recognized that ultraviolet rays in sunlight (wavelengths between 280 nm and 400 nm) is an important factorcausing photodegradation to some organic substances such as polymers.UV radiation causes photooxidative degradation which results in breaking of the polymer chains, produces free radical and...