Thermal Oxidative Behavior of Readily Available Reference Polymers

Abstract

There is an ongoing need in the plastics and rubber industries for readily available polymer oxidation standards. Appropriate and well characterized polymers are needed as ASTM and industrial standards for a variety of applications, such as oxidative stability of engineering plastics, composites, coatings, and elastomers. Oxidative properties by thermoanalytical techniques, with an established polymer set, are of utmost importance in presenting reliable data and developing quality assurance protocols. Control charting thermal oxidative methods with quality polymers can lead to International Standards Organization (ISO) certification. Thermal oxidative behavior of a commercial set of reference polymers has been evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) differential thermal analysis (DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and pressure DSC (PDSC). There is a good correlation between measured stability by PDSC in oxygen and DTA in air. Known polymer crystallinity properties have been used to calibrate test temperature and heats of fusion. The thermal oxidative properties of these readily available reference polymers are repeatable and reproducible.