Evolution of aromatic compounds in the thermal decomposition of vinyl polymers

Abstract

Abstract The thermal decomposition products that evolve from poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC), poly(vinylbromide) (PVB), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and poly(vinylacetate) (PVAc) were analyzed by direct pyrolysis in the ion source of a mass spectrometer (MS). Our results indicate that in both stages of the decomposition process which occurred in the four vinyl polymers investigated several aromatic hydrocarbons were produced and that the relative amounts of benzene, napthalene, and anthracene were different in the two stages. This previously unreported information determines in a single scheme the thermal behavior of the title compounds.