Thermoxidative degradation of polypropylene

The thermoxidative behavior of atactic and isotactic polypropylene under dynamical thermoxidative conditions has been studied. It has been established that, with the increase of the heating rate, the development of the oxidative processes are diminished and consequently a modification in the reaction mechanism takes place. One can notice at the same time that the oxidative processes are more intense in the case of the atactic polymer. The 5–15°C/min heating rates determine significant differences between the thermal behavior of the samples, permitting the elaboration of the standard curves useful in fast determination of the atactic content of the industrial products by routine analysis.