The oxyluminescence of polymers. A review

A review of the oxyluminescence of polymers is presented here. When polymers are heated in an air or oxygen atmosphere, they exhibit a low-level light emission called oxyluminescence (OL). This new phenomenon has been used to study the oxidative degradation of polymers as well as to evaluate stabilizer concentration and behavior. This review consists of the following: (a), OL intensity and spectral distribution; (b), mechanism of the OL process; (c), kinetics of OL; (d), OL in polymer stabilizer studies; (e), instrumentation; and (f), polymers studied by OL.