Mechanism of Smoke Reduction by Ferrocene in PVC Combustion

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Abstract
This paper reports on results obtained on molded sheets of rigid PVC containing up to 1.5% of ferrocene by weight of polymer. Thermogravimetric and flash pyrolysis in combination with gas chromatographic analysis showed that the introduction of such small quantities of ferrocene considerably increases the amount of low molecular weight volatile materials and simultaneously decreases the amount of benzene generated by the decomposition of the samples. Smoke opacification data revealed that ferrocene plays a noticeable role as a smoke suppressant only at temperatures higher than 500° C and unexpectedly strongly enhances the amount of smoke generated at 400° C. A linear correlation has been found between the amount of benzene evolved from the degradation and the amount of smoke generated by the combustion of the samples at temperature higher than 500° C. Experimental evidence shows that in the presence of HC1 generated by the degradation of PVC in air, ferrocene molecules readily oxidize to a-ferric oxide. It is believed that the ferrocene molecule is not itself the active species in the mechanism