The Analysis of Thermosetting Acrylic Polymers by Pyrolysis Capillary Gas Chromatography

Pyrolysis capillary gas chromatography (PCGC) is found to be a rapid and powerful technique for identifying all the acrylic ester monomers in thermosetting acrylic resins. Ten polymers are qualitatively analyzed using a gas chromatograph with a pyrolysis unit, a split capillary injector system, a nonpolar fused silica capillary column, and a flame-ionization detector. In addition, semi-quantitative results of the monomer compositions of two polymers are determined using normalization-percentage and internalstandard methods. The superior analytical capability of PCGC over pyrolysis gas chromatography using packed columns (PGC) and over conventional infrared spectroscopy is demonstrated.