Advances in Sunlight and Chemical Resistance of Textiles and Plastics

Recent automobile styling trends have accentuated the importance of improving performance standards for the fibers used in the interiors and trim parts of cars. The complexity of the problem involved in predicting light durability and weathering of textiles and plastics used inside and outside of automobiles, by means of laboratory tests, is discussed. The primary cause for light degradation of fibers is ultraviolet rays with wavelengths between 2900-4000 Angstroms. It is evident that UV stabilizers have not been developed to a degree which can render most plastic polymers impervious to sunlight. However, improvements in this area are being made and considerable work is being carried out to upgrade present tests so that they can predict the effect of any atmospheric severity-time relationship on a polymer.