Studies of pyrolysis and air heating of rayon by inverse gas chromatography

Inverse gas chromatography using water probing at 110°C was carried out to characterize rayon yarns after prior heating at 200 and 250°C in both inert (nitrogen) and oxidative (dry air) atmospheres for successively longer time intervals. During the early stages of heating in either atmosphere, the affinity of the rayon for water drops rapidly. However, whereas continued heating in N₂ results in a further loss of activity, data have been obtained showing that after an initial period yarns heated in air at 250°C exhibit an increasing attraction for water even while losing more weight.