Recent developments in the thermal degradation of polystyrene—A review

A critical review of the radical mechanisms involved in the thermal degradation of polystyrene is presented. Four unsolved problems are discussed: 1. The existence and the behaviour of the radical borne on a methylene end group after a random chain scission; 2. The selectivity of hydrogen abstraction from secondary or tertiary C atoms in the main chain unit; 3. The termination mechanism which seems to be simply the disappearance of small radicals by evaporation; and 4. The initiation mechanisms, clearly related to the benzylic end groups when the polymer has been prepared anionically, but which remain unclear when the polymer was formed using radicals. Some suggestions are made for further research in the field.

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