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Investigation of the mechanistic basis for ferrocene activity during the combustion of vinyl polymers
Author(s) -
Lawson David F.
Publication year - 1976
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/app.1976.070200813
Subject(s) - ferrocene , polymer , basis (linear algebra) , combustion , vinyl polymer , materials science , polymer chemistry , polymer science , chemistry , organic chemistry , chemical engineering , copolymer , electrochemistry , engineering , electrode , geometry , mathematics
The influence of ferrocene on the flammability and smoke generation behavior and thermal characteristics of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVC) was examined in order to understand the basis of ferrocene's activity as a flame‐retardant and smoke‐suppressant additive. Ferrocene increased char formation in PVC by 20–60% while increasing the limiting oxygen index ( O.I. ) by 15–19%. Little char was found either with or without ferrocene in PVA, which had little improvement in O.I. Visible smoke was significantly decreased by ferrocene in PVA and in PVC of low to moderate molecular weight, but was unchanged in high molecular weight PVC. O.I. of PVC appeared to vary with molecular weight of the polymer. Thermogravimetric analyses and thermal degradation experiments showed that ferrocene promotes early weight loss and crosslinking in PVC. This effect is coincidental with the formation of ferricenium cation, which was identified by its visible spectrum and which may be a possible catalyst. Smoke inhibition of PVA by ferrocene occurs predominantly through gas‐phase processes, while in PVC evidence and analogy for activity in both the gas phase and condensed phase are found.