SUPERSONIC JET SPECTROMETRY OF CHEMICAL-SPECIES RESULTING FROM THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION OF POLYSTYRENE AND POLYCARBONATE

Polystyrene and polycarbonate are thermally decomposed by elevating the temperature up to 400-degrees-C. There resulting chemical species are measured by supersonic jet spectrometry combined with excitation/fluorescence spectrometry and multiphoton ionization/mass spectrometry. A styrene monomer is dominantly formed from polystyrene, and toluene is also found in the decomposed products; the toluene peak is not clearly observed in the excitation spectrum by a spectral overlap of the congested lines coming from a styrene monomer but is differentiated in the resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization spectrum. Many peaks are observed in a nonresonant multiphoton ionization/mass spectrum, corresponding to dimers and trimers, and possible candidates are proposed in this study. Alternatively, p-cresol is clearly observed in the thermally decomposed products measured by mass-selected multiphoton ionization spectrometry. Other possible candidates are also proposed, including the chemical species corresponding to a monomer unit and an inhibitor of the chain radical reaction.