Thermal oxidative degradation of polypropylene-containing pro-oxidants

Abstract

The thermal degradation of polypropylene-containing pro-oxidants was studied by determining the oxidation induction time (OIT) and by assessing the activation energy (E a) estimated from thermogravimetric analysis. Polypropylene (PP) was prepared with different concentrations of two pro-oxidants, polyacetal (POM) and d2w®. The pro-oxidants accelerated the oxidation process of oxidation of PP in the presence of oxygen; however, there is little change in the values of the OIT in compositions with different concentrations of d2w®. For PP/POM blends, the volatile low molecular mass compounds, primarily from POM-derived formaldehyde, accounted for the decrease in E a with the increasing POM concentration.