Measurement of polymer degradation

In a collection it is useful to assess the level of degradation of a plastic artefact.

Potential danger of degradation after a relatively short time interval of plastics storage and exposition is a particularly hazard for artefacts containing cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate, plasticised poly (vinyl chloride) and polyurethanes.

Different polymers were thermally or photo chemically artificially aged and then characterised by using chemiluminescence, thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry…