Comparative study of pyrolytic decomposition of polymers alone or in EVA/PS, EVA/PVC and EVA/cellulose mixtures

The behavior of mixtures of EVA–PS, EVA–PVC and EVA–cellulose in various proportions were investigated under pyrolysis. A kinetic model with an independent pathway is proposed for the weight loss and compared with the experimental and theoretical results obtained in a previous study with individual polymers. The kinetic parameters were determined and online IR spectrometric analysis used to follow the evolution of the gaseous pyrolysis products versus the temperature. The result shows good agreement for the EVA–PS mixture and confirms the hypothesis of an independent pathway. However, in the case of EVA–PVC and EVA–cellulose mixtures, the polymers affect one other in the pyrolysis reaction.