Continuous Distribution Kinetics for the Degradation of Polystyrene in Supercritical Benzene

Karmore, Vishal and Madras, Giridhar (2000) Continuous Distribution Kinetics for the Degradation of Polystyrene in Supercritical Benzene. In: Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 39 (11). pp. 4020-4023.

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Abstract

The degradation kinetics of polystyrene (PS) in supercritical benzene was studied at various temperatures (300-330 degreesC) at 5.0 MPa. The time evolution of the molecular weight distributions was obtained by analyzing the samples with gel permeation chromatography. The evolution was modeled with continuous distribution kinetics by assuming that the degradation rate coefficient varied linearly with molecular weight. The activation energy of the rate coefficient was determined to be 13.8 kcal/mol. The degradation rate coefficients obtained in supercritical benzene were substantially higher than the rate coefficients observed for degradation of PS in subcritical solvents at high pressures and in solvents at normal pressures. This significant enhancement in the degradation rate may be due to enhanced diffusivity in supercritical fluids.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to American Chemical Society.
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Chemical Engineering
Date Deposited:	05 Mar 2009 11:28
Last Modified:	15 Jul 2015 05:41
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/17009

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