Product properties II Environmental behaviour and failure

The environmental product properties comprise the heat stability, flammability and resistance to organic solvents and detergents. 

The heat stability is closely related to the transition and decomposition temperatures, i.e. to intrinsic properties. 

The degree of flammability of a polymeric material may be predicted from its chemical structure. One of the most valuable criteria in fire research, the so-called limiting oxygen index (LOI) may be estimated either from the specific heat of combustion or from the amount of char residue on pyrolysis. Since both quantities can be determined if the chemical structure is known, also the LOI can be estimated. An approximate assessment of the LOI value direct from the elementary composition of the polymer is also possible. 

The environmental decay of polymers in liquids is primarily dependent on the solubility parameters of polymer and liquid and on the hydrogen bond interaction between polymer and liquid. 

---