Pyrolysis–GC/MS Techniques for Polymer Characterization and Degradation

ALFONSO JIMENEZ AND ROXANA RUSECKAITE

Encyclopedia of Chromatography, Second Edition

Marcel Dekker

Lugar: New York; Año: 2005; p. 1396 - 1400

Pyrolysis (Py) involves the thermal degradation of organic matter in an oxygen-free environment. There are many applications of analytical pyrolysis and a large number of them are focused on polymer or composites analysis. The analysis of polymers is sometimes a rather difficult task. Polymers are not volatile; some of them have low solubility in most solvents, and some decompose easily during heating. Therefore, the direct application of powerful analytical tools, such as GC-MS, is difficult on most polymers and composite materials. Pyrolysis of these macromolecules generates, in most cases, smaller and volatile molecules, easy to determine by GC=MS. From the ‘‘fingerprint’’ of the pyrolysis products, valuable information can be obtained about the initial samples. Pyrolysis of plastics mainly generates oily productsPyrolysis of plastics mainly generates oily products and gases, which are useful products for energy generation or chemicals. Pyrolysis techniques combined with GC (Py–GC) and GC-MS (Py–GC-MS) have extended the application of GC to materials of low volatility. Some monographs and reviews on this subject have been published in the last years. As has been stated in one of these reviews,[3] ‘‘Pyrolysis permits GC analysis of things that the GC cannot do by itself.’’ Pyrolysis–GC-MS techniques have been used in general for thermoplastics but some recent studies focused on pyrolysis and thermal degradation of thermosets.