Experimental principles in the investigation of polymer degradation kinetics

3 Experimental principles in the investigation of polymer degradation kinetics 

The general kinetics of degradation, following the initial dissociation of bonds, have been discussed by many authors [Refs. 19, 97, 98, 250, 308, 309, 311, 314, 341, 388, 530, 575-578, 613, 642]. The kinetics of the photodegradation of polymers has also been extensively examined [Refs. 310-312, 467, 569—571]. 

The following most important parameters are determined in the majority of investigations devoted to the kinetics of polymer degradation. 

Ostwald and Turi [471] noted that the molecular weight distribution found during thermal oxidation of polypropylene below the melting point was broader than that found for a degradation carried out above the 

The number of average chain scissions (s) during the degradation of the polymer in solution can be determined from viscometric measurements. 

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