Comparison of the thermal degradation products of poly(butylene terephthalate) and flame retardant poly(butylene terephthalate) formulations using a pyrolysis FTIR cell

The use of a simple Fourier transform infrared pyrolysis cell is described in the evaluation of the relative thermal performance of a system of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) polymers and PBT-based formulations containing flame retardant. On decomposition, the PBT polymers are shown to give off mainly water, CO 2, butadiene, THF and PBT oligomers. The FRs are shown to increase marginally the temperature at which a PBT-based formulation decomposes.