Patent ID: 7514480

Claim:
A process for improving the melt strength of a fluoropolymer comprising the-steps of: a) exposing said fluoropolymer to a low level of ionizing radiation below the percolation limit thereby producing chain branching with little or no crosslinking, wherein the level of ionizing radiation is from 0.1 to 7.5 M-rad; and b) melt processing said fluoropolymer after exposure to said low level of ionizing radiation, wherein said fluoropolymer is a polyvinylidene fluoride homopolymer, or a polyviylidene fluoride copolymer or terpolymer having at least 50 weight percent of vinylidene fluoride monomer units, and wherein said melt strength is improved, and wherein the fluoropolymer being exposed to the ionizing radiation is in the form of a pellet, or a powder.