4 - Thermal degradation techniques

Abstract

Several different configurations of thermal analysis, spectroscopic and chromatographic devices have been developed to accomplish degradation for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. For instance, the thermal decomposition of polymers has been extensively investigated by thermogravimetry (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) or recently by thermal modulated differential scanning calorimetry (TMDSC), where the ability of conventional DSC by higher resolution and sensitivity, in addition to being able to separate overlapping phenomena, is utilized. Also, volatile products have been analyzed online by mass spectroscopy (Ms) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). It has been proved that the coupled thermo-analytical techniques, e.g., TG-Ms or TG-FTIR, can be a powerful tool in studying structural features of complex organic materials. Moreover, direct pyrolysis–mass spectrometry (Py-Ms) is applied to determine the primary structure of macromolecules and to investigate selective thermal degradation mechanisms. Pyrolysis–gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-Ms) has been widely used for the separation and identification of the volatile pyrolysis products of various polymeric materials.