Abstract: Irradiation effects on chlorinated polyethylene (CPE) were studied by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, measurements of proton spin-spin relaxation time (T₂) and spin-lattice relaxation time (T₁) and FT-IR. The results indicated that degradation reactions took place after CPE was irradiated by ⁶⁰Co γ-rays. It was shown that HCl emitted during irradiation. The higher the absorbed doses was, the more HCl emitted. The quantity of some sequential structures (e.g., CH₂CHClCHClCH₂CHCl, CH₂CH₂CHClCH₂CH₂, CHClCH₂CHClCH₂CH₂, and CHClCH₂CHClCH₂CHCl) of CPE were found reduced after irradiation, but there were no evidence indicating that new sequential structures were formed. The values of T₁ and T₂ also provided very important information about the segmental motion of the molecules.

Key words: NMR, CPE, irradiation effect, content of Cl, segmental motion