Pyrolysis of fluorocarbon polymers

Abstract

The thermal decomposition of various fluorocarbon polymers were investigated; volatile products of the decomposition were determined along with the overall rates of volatilization, and from these rates the activation energies were calculated for the thermal degradation reactions. The thermally most stable of all the polymers thus far studied are the completely fluorinated ones. However, evidence from a study of the decomposition of hexafluoropropylene telomers and from the study of a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and hexafluoropropylene suggests that the homopolymer of hexafluoropropylene, if it could be made, would be quite unstable. The photoinduced decomposition of polytrifluorochloro-ethylene was also investigated, and estimates of the activation energies were obtained for the various elementary steps of the decomposition mechanism. The photoinduced experiments indicated that mutual termination of the radical intermediates takes place and that a diffusion effect on depropagation becomes pronounced below 250 degrees C.