The Initial Thermal Stability of Poly(vinyl chloride)

The use of a fluidised bed reactor and a conductivity cell provide a technique for the study of degradation of PVC with greatly increased sensitivity. The kinetics of the reaction may be studied at 350 K and for small (1%) amounts of degradation. The effects of diffusion within the particles may be distinguished from that of diffusion in the surrounding atmosphere. The influence of temperature and particle size and sintering were examined. The catalytic effect of HCl was confirmed and an apparent activation energy of 29 kcal mol−1 was observed.