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Mechanism studies on the catalytic degradation of waste polystyrene into styrene in the presence of metal powders
Author(s) -
Guoxi Xi,
Rui Liang,
Qinhu Tang,
Jinghua Li
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19990815)73:7<1139::aid-app5>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - polystyrene , catalysis , degradation (telecommunications) , styrene , metal , materials science , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , reaction mechanism , thermal , chemistry , copolymer , polymer , organic chemistry , composite material , metallurgy , thermodynamics , telecommunications , engineering , physics , computer science
In the present article, the effects of Al, Zn, Fe, Ni, and Cu powders on the thermal degradation of waste polystyrene were studied. The results show that the catalytic effects of metal powders have a relationship with their activities. The catalytic effects increase with the increasing activities of metals. It is suggested that polystyrene degrades through a transient intermediate in the presence of metal powders, and the degradation of the transient intermediate is the rate‐determining step. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 1139–1143, 1999