Kinetics radiation-induced degradation

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Pulse radiolysis studies concerning the polymerization as well as the degradation, crosslinking and radiation resistance of polymers are surveyed. Initiation mechanisms of the radiation-induced polymerization of styrene and other monomers are discussed on the basis of the direct measurements of the reaction intermediates. Optical and kinetic data on the short-lived chemical intermediates produced in the solution of polymers and in the rigid polymers are surveyed and discussed with special reference to the degradation mechanism of polymers. 

Thus, the free-radical-induced degradation of hyaluronic acid, another carbohydrate biopolymer, is a major aspect of rheumatoid arthritis, which has provoked radiation-chemical studies to elucidate the kinetics of its depolymerization (the lubricating property of hyaluronic acid in a joint is rapidly lost when its molecul2u- weight is decreased). 

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