Ultraviolet Irradiation of Rubber

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Abstract
The absorption of light by rubber when dissolved in polar and non-polar solvents was measured before and after exposing the solutions to ultraviolet light in the absence of air. It was found that irradiation with ultraviolet light makes rubber more transparent when in non-polar solvents and less transparent when in polar solvents. The state of rubber in solution is reviewed in the light of present-day knowledge, and a tentative explanation of the absorption phenomenon is suggested on the assumption that the rubber molecule in a polar solvent is depolymerized by the field of the solvent molecule and that ultraviolet light produces both polymerization and depolymerization of rubber, according as rubber initially is in a low or high state of polymerization. A probable support to this concept from measurements of viscosity is indicated.

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