The influence of light on the thermal decomposition of polypropylene fibers

✍ Scribed by R. Čunko; M. Gambiroža-Jukić; E. Pezelj

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 237 KB
• Volume: 71
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19990328)71:13<2237::aid-app14>3.0.co;2-m

✦ Synopsis

The influence of exposure to artificial light (ultraviolet and visible spectrum) on the thermal degradation process of polypropylene fiber has been investigated. The activation energy E as a kinetic parameter of the fiber thermal decomposition has been defined by means of the Flynn-Wall and Freeman-Carroll methods. The fiber melting temperature range was also defined. The investigations have been made on the basis the of thermal gravimetric analysis and differential thermal gravimetric analysis curves determined at various heating speeds, in the temperature range from 100°-600°C. It was found that thermal stability of polypropylene fiber is reduced by light treatment (i.e., fiber softens and melts at a lower temperature). Activation energy values determined for thermal decomposition of the fiber samples exposed to the influence of light are considerably higher than the values determined on unexposed samples. The decomposition process of aged fiber is more complex and occurs in a larger temperature range. Both the methods used show almost similar results.