Affiliation: | aIndustrial Internship Program, Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada bTrace Evidence Services, Forensic Laboratory Service – Edmonton, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 15707, 118th Avenue, Edmonton, AB, Canada T5V 1B7 cNational Research Council of Canada, Fire Research Program, Canada |
Abstract: | The precision and long-term stability of pyrolysis probe set-point temperature calibration of a commercially available coiled-filament pyrolyzer were assessed for a variety of polymers, including Kraton® D1107, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). While plots of peak area ratios for Kraton® and HDPE versus pyrolysis set-point temperatures produced statistically significant linear curves at the 95% confidence level, poor precision was observed at each of the set-point temperatures. Plots of peak area ratios for LDPE, in particular for n-C16 alkyldiene/n-C16 alkene peak area ratios, also exhibited good linearity but showed significant improvements in precision at each set-point temperature. In addition, replicate analysis over a 10-month period of peak area ratios for polymers pyrolyzed at a set-point temperature of 900 °C confirmed the improved method precision obtained from pyrolysis of LDPE and analysis of the n-C16 alkyldiene/n-C16 alkene ratio when compared to the precision obtained from pyrolysis of Kraton® D1107 or high-density polyethylene. |