Effect of Thermal Aging on the Optical Properties of ABS Plastics

Poly(acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene, ABS) is a two-phase material consisting of elastomer particles in a glassy polymer matrix of styrene and acrylonitrile (SAN) [1]. The photo-oxidation of ABS has been the subject of several studies [2, 3]. It was suggested that several processes will take place during photo-oxidation. These changes include the formation of hydroperoxide [4], chain breakage of the polystyrene, and the oxidation of the polymer as it was monitored by IR spectroscopy [4–6]. Also, photooxidation affects the polybutadiene in ABS and oxidizes it, which results in the formation of hydroperoxide. No data are available on the thermal degradation of ABS. In a previous study the thermal aging of recycled high-impact polystyrene was studied using UV-Vis spectroscopy [7]. It was found that this method provides very useful information about the degradation of several industrial polymers [8–12]. In the work reported in this paper, thermal degradation of ABS was followed by UV-Vis and IR spectroscopy.