The microstructure exploration of thermoplastic copolymers by pyrolysis-gas chromatography

Pyrolysis gas-chromatography (Py-GC) has been used as an important technique in the polymer characterization. In additional to the composition determination, the polymer microstructure can be explored based on the monomers/oligomers and/or their related fragments. Several thermoplastic polymers have been studied to demonstrate the power of Py-GC in the microstructure determination. In many circumstances, in order to obtain a unique monomers/oligomer and/or their related fragment, a pre-pyrolysis derivatization technique has been applied to the polymer to alter its degradation pathway. This pre-pyrolysis derivatization technique can be used in any type of Py-GC applications to increase the number of polymeric systems which is suitable for this microstructure investigation. Two examples have also been presented to show the advantages of pre-pyrolysis derivatization in the microstructure and composition investigation. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.