Abstract: A series of compounding materials were fabricated by blending styrene butadiene copolymer (SBS) with low-density polyethylene (PE-LD) and then crosslinked by γ-ray in the presence of multifunctional monomers. The crosslinking degree, tensile strength and elongation at break of the crosslinked blends were investigated. The results indicated that multifunctional monomers exhibited an enhancement effect on the crosslinking degree of SBS/PE-LD blends. The crosslinking degree was improved with increasing content of multifunctional monomer as well as the radiation dose. In addition, the crosslinked blends exhibited a well-defined shape-memory behavior.

Key words: multifunctional monomer, low-density polyethylene, styrene butadiene copolymer, enhanced radiation crosslinking, shape-memory effect