The effect of sample weight in thermogravimetric analysis of low viscosity polypropylene in air atmosphere

Low viscosity polypropylene is a new group of homopolymers for the manufacture of melt-blown nonwovens. The thermooxidative degradation of isotactic polypropylene was studied. Experiments using varied sample size and flow rates were undertaken to determine possible effects of these experimental parameters on the low viscosity thermo-oxidation process. It was found that the results of thermogravimetric analysis (temperature of 50%) of low viscosity polypropylene samples very strongly depend on the weight of the sample. The influence of gas flow conditions, sample pan geometry and sample melt flow rates parameters on the results of thermogravimetric analysis has not been observed. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.