Abstract
Measurements of the evolution of CO and CO 2 concentrations during the course of combustion of an ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer filled with aluminium trihydroxide (ATH) or magnesium dihydroxide (MDH) confirm the catalytic behaviour of Al 2O 3 and MgO in the incandescence of the residual char. Incorporation into the formulation of a number of known catalyst poisons and some other substances has shown that these are generally not convenient as inhibitors for such a reaction due to their poor thermal stability or to unacceptable physical modification of the copolymer. Only Sb 2O 3 exhibits an interesting inhibiting effect with ATH- or MDH-filled samples, though it acts as a promoter when added alone. The analysis of CO and CO 2 emissions coupled with differential scanning calorimetry allows an explanation to be given of the mechanism of action of Sb 2O 3 based on Semenov's thermal theory of ignition.
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