Hydrous pyrolysis of silica-supported polystyrene

Thermal degradation of polystyrene has been studied in the presence of water under subcritical conditions (hydrous pyrolysis). The experiments were performed in closed systems under inert atmosphere, in the temperature range of 300–320°C, for 1–24 h. The results showed that the presence of water increases the yields of the volatile products, mainly in the first steps of the pyrolitic process, with a higher selectivity of monomer. In order to improve the effective phase contact between water and the polymer during the degradation, hydrous pyrolysis runs have been carried out on silica‐supported polystyrene. Some of these experiments were performed using a stirred reactor. Under these conditions, the above effects appeared to be greatly emphasized. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the degradation products have been reported for the series of runs investigated. The best recovery of styrene has been achieved at 320°C and 8 h, being close to 71%. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 70: 2291–2298, 1998