CHEMILUMINESCENCE TECHNIQUES FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS

Photons are emitted at low levels from a wide variety of organic materials at wavelengths ranging from the visible to infrared. This light emission accompanies free‐radical autoxidation and charge‐recombination processes and is particulary useful in assessing thermal oxidation and radiation damage as well as polymer curing reactions. IR chemiluminescence, which offers advantages because of reduced self‐absorption, has been shown to mark the end of induction periods in inhibited systems. With the introduction of sensitive solid‐state devices, the chemiluminescence technique has been extended to two‐dimensional imaging and presentation. Copyright © 1990 by VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Germany