Oxythermography for Exploring the Thermal Stability of Polymer Materials: A Novel Analytical Approach

The control of oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations in an airflow released from a reactor, in which a sample is heated, can be used to investigate the thermal stability of polymer materials. This approach, known as oxithermography, involves analyzing experimental data (oxithermograms), representing the variation in oxygen concentration decrease and carbon dioxide appearance in an airflow with changing temperature conditions. This method allows for monitoring the effect of fillers introduced into polymer compositions on their thermal stability. The application of oxithermography to studying oxidative thermostability is demonstrated using pure polypropylene and polypropylene with titanium dioxide admixtures as examples.