Quantitation, additives Antioxidants

Applications The general applications of XRD comprise routine phase identification, quantitative analysis, compositional studies of crystalline solid compounds, texture and residual stress analysis, high-and low-temperature studies, low-angle analysis, films, etc. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction has been used for detailed structural analysis of many pure polymer additives (antioxidants, flame retardants, plasticisers, fillers, pigments and dyes, etc.) and for conformational analysis. A variety of analytical techniques are used to identify and classify different crystal polymorphs, notably XRD, microscopy, DSC, FTIR and NIRS. A comprehensive review of the analytical techniques employed for the analysis of polymorphs has been compiled [324]. The Rietveld method has been used to model a mineral-filled PPS compound [325]. 

Ultraviolet spectrophotometry This technique has been used extensively for polymers of the polystyrene or polyacrylate types. It has also been used for the estimation of optical properties of polymers (transparency, haze, color, and color stability) and quantitative analysis of additives (antioxidants, UV stabilizers, etc.). 

It is of interest to examine the development of the analytical toolbox for rubber deformulation over the last two decades and the role of emerging technologies (Table 2.9). Bayer technology (1981) for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of rubbers and elastomers consisted of a multitechnique approach comprising extraction (Soxhlet, DIN 53 553), wet chemistry (colour reactions, photometry), electrochemistry (polarography, conductometry), various forms of chromatography (PC, GC, off-line PyGC, TLC), spectroscopy (UV, IR, off-line PylR), and microscopy (OM, SEM, TEM, fluorescence) [10]. Reported applications concerned the identification of plasticisers, fatty acids, stabilisers, antioxidants, vulcanisation accelerators, free/total/bound sulfur, minerals and CB. Monsanto (1983) used direct-probe MS for in situ quantitative analysis of additives and rubber and made use of 31P NMR [69]. 

Kellum [115] has described a class-selective oxidation chemistry procedure for the quantitative determination of secondary antioxidants in extracts of PE and PP with great precision (better than 1 %). Diorgano sulfides and tertiary phosphites can be quantitatively oxidised with /-chloropcroxybenzoic acid to the corresponding sulfones and phosphates with no interference from other stabilisers or additives. Hindered phenols, benzophenones, triazoles, fatty acid amides, and stearate... 

David et al. [184] have shown that cool on-column injection and the use of deactivated thermally stable columns in CGC-FID and CGC-F1D-MS for quantitative determination of additives (antistatics, antifogging agents, UV and light stabilisers, antioxidants, etc.) in mixtures prevents thermal degradation of high-MW compounds. Perkins et al. [101] have reported development of an analysis method for 100 ppm polymer additives in a 500 p,L SEC fraction in DCM by means of at-column GC (total elution time 27 min repeatability 3-7 %). Requirements for the method were (i) on-line (ii) use of whole fraction (LVI) and (iii) determination of high-MW compounds (1200 Da) at low concentrations. Difficult matrix introduction (DMI) and selective extraction can be used for GC analysis of silicone oil contamination in paints and other complex analytical problems. 

Composition and structure of newly developed additives are commonly examined by IR, NMR, MS and elemental analysis, e.g. recently developed higher MW antioxidants [115]. Infrared spectroscopy is also well suited to the direct verification of compound composition and quantitative determination of additives in polymers. Gray and Neri [116] have used Soxhlet... 

On-line SFE-SFC has also been used for the quantification of erucamide and antioxidants in PE [110]. Cotton et al. [15] have reported quantitative extraction of additives from PP at five different extraction pressures, at a constant flow-rate and temperature. Below 50 atm, extraction was negligible between 50 and 200 atm, Tin-uvin 326 and 770 were extracted, along with small quantities of oligomers. Higher pressures lead to the extraction of all the additives present, with the integrated peak areas conforming well to the actual concentrations. 

GC-MS and GC-AED techniques were used for the direct analysis of used tyre vacuum pyrolysis oil [255]. Antioxidants and antiwear additives (0.25-5 wt% DODPA, a-NPA, TCPs, TPP, IPPs) in lubricating synthetic oils, essentially esters of branched-chain alcohols such as pentaerythritol, neopentylglycol and trimethylolpropane, were determined by means of GC-SIM-MS using diphenylamine (DPA) as an internal standard [256] similarly, TCPs, TPP, IPPs, DPs and I2P were quantitatively analysed by GC-FPD using triethylphosphate (TEP) as an internal standard. RSD values of 3-6% were reported for GC-SIM-MS, and 7-9 % for GC-FPD. 

On-line SFE-pSFC-FTIR was used to identify extractable components (additives and monomers) from a variety of nylons [392]. SFE-SFC-FID with 100% C02 and methanol-modified scC02 were used to quantitate the amount of residual caprolactam in a PA6/PA6.6 copolymer. Similarly, the more permeable PS showed various additives (Irganox 1076, phosphite AO, stearic acid - ex Zn-stearate - and mineral oil as a melt flow controller) and low-MW linear and cyclic oligomers in relatively mild SCF extraction conditions [392]. Also, antioxidants in PE have been analysed by means of coupling of SFE-SFC with IR detection [121]. Yang [393] has described SFE-SFC-FTIR for the analysis of polar compounds deposited on polymeric matrices, whereas Ikushima et al. [394] monitored the extraction of higher fatty acid esters. Despite the expectations, SFE-SFC-FTIR hyphenation in on-line additive analysis of polymers has not found widespread industrial use. While applications of SFC-FTIR and SFC-MS to the analysis of additives in polymeric matrices are not abundant, these techniques find wide application in the analysis of food and natural product components [395]. 

Considerable efforts have also been made toward the development of novel compounds with superior antioxidant properties. Some attempts were also made to introduce new synthetic polymeric compounds which are non-absorbable and non-toxic. These are generally hydroxyaromatic polymers with various alkyl and alkoxyl substitutions. Such compounds are usually very large molecules and their absorption from the intestinal tract is practically nil. In addition to their reportedly high antioxidant activity, they are non-volatile under deep-fat frying conditions, which result in nearly quantitative carry-through to the fried items, but they have not yet received FDA approval. 

The radical addition and hydrogen transfer mechanisms of inhibition by chain-breaking antioxidants are now reasonably well understood in both qualitative and quantitative terms. The electron-transfer mechanism of inhibition deserves greater attention. 

New methods for non-destructive quantitative analysis of additives based on MIR spectra and multivariate calibration have been presented [67, 68], One of the limitations in the determination of additive levels by MIR spectroscopy is encountered in the detection limit of this technique, which is usually above the low concentration of additive present, due to their heavy dilution in the polymer matrix. The samples are thin polymer films with small variations in thickness (due to errors in sample preparation). The differences in thickness cause a shift in spectra and if not eliminated or reduced they may produce non-reliable results. Methods for spectral normalisation become necessary. These methods were reviewed and compared by Karstang et al. [68]. MIR is more specific than UV but the antioxidant content may be too low to give a suitable spectrum [69]. However, this difficulty can be overcome by using an additive-free polymer in the reference beam [67, 68, 69, 70]. On the other hand, UV and MIR have been successfully applied to quantify additives in polymer extracts [71, 72, 66]. 

Haider and Karlsson [15] developed a simple procedure for the determination of aromatic antioxidants and ultraviolet stabilizers in polyethylene using ultrasonic extraction. Chloroform was used for the isolation of Chi-massorb 944 from 150-pm-thick commerical low-density polyethylene and Irganox 1010 and Irgafos 168 from 25-pm medium-density polyethylene film. The recovery of the additives increased remarkably at higher temperatures and longer extraction times. At 60°C, quantitative recovery was achieved in 15, 45, and 60 minutes for Irgafos 168, Irganox 1010, and Chi-massorb 944, respectively. 

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