Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
An experiment for undergraduate teaching laboratories is described that involves the identification of samples of polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate). This involves the thermal degradation of the polymers (a destructive distillation) into their respective monomers. The monomers are then identified using infrared spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Clough et al. (2005) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: