Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants are frequently added to industrial products, such as polymers, fuels, and lubricants, to extend their usable lifetimes. Foods are also treated with antioxidants to forestall spoilage, in particular the rancidification of oils and fats. In cells, antioxidants such as glutathione, mycothiol, or bacillithiol, and enzyme systems like superoxide dismutase, can prevent damage from oxidative stress.
Polymer degradation is the reduction in the physical properties of a polymer, such as strength, caused by changes in its chemical composition. Polymers and particularly plastics are subject to degradation at all stages of their product life cycle, including during their initial processing, use, disposal into the environment and recycling. The rate of this degradation varies significantly; biodegradation can take decades, whereas some industrial processes can completely decompose a polymer in hours.
Steric effects arise from the spatial arrangement of atoms. When atoms come close together there is generally a rise in the energy of the molecule. Steric effects are nonbonding interactions that influence the shape (conformation) and reactivity of ions and molecules. Steric effects complement electronic effects, which dictate the shape and reactivity of molecules. Steric repulsive forces between overlapping electron clouds result in structured groupings of molecules stabilized by the way that opposites attract and like charges repel.
In chemistry, initiation is a chemical reaction that triggers one or more secondary reactions. Initiation creates a reactive centre on a molecule which produces a chain reaction. The reactive centre generated by initiation is usually a radical, but can also be cations or anions. Once the reaction is initiated, the species goes through propagation where the reactive species reacts with stable molecules, producing stable species and reactive species. This process can produce very long chains of molecules called polymers, which are the building blocks for many materials. After propagation, the reaction is then terminated. There are different types of initiation, with the two main ways being thermal initiation and photo-initiation (light).
Dimethyl sulfite is a sulfite ester with the chemical formula (CH3O)2SO.
In industrial chemistry, a stabilizer or stabiliser is a chemical that is used to prevent degradation.Heat and light stabilizers are added to plastics because they ensure safe processing and protect products against aging and weathering. The trend is towards fluid systems, pellets, and increased use of masterbatches. There are monofunctional, bifunctional, and polyfunctional stabilizers. In economic terms the most important product groups on the market for stabilizers are compounds based on calcium, lead, and tin stabilizers as well as liquid and light stabilizers. Cadmium-based stabilizers largely vanished in the last years due to health and environmental concerns.
Autoxidation refers to oxidations brought about by reactions with oxygen at normal temperatures, without the intervention of flame or electric spark. The term is usually used to describe the gradual degradation of organic compounds in air at ambient temperatures. Many common phenomena can be attributed to autoxidation, such as food going rancid, the 'drying' of varnishes and paints, and the perishing of rubber. It is also an important concept in both industrial chemistry and biology. Autoxidation is therefore a fairly broad term and can encompass examples of photooxygenation and catalytic oxidation.
Photodegradation is the alteration of materials by light. Commonly, the term is used loosely to refer to the combined action of sunlight and air, which cause oxidation and hydrolysis. Often photodegradation is intentionally avoided, since it destroys paintings and other artifacts. It is, however, partly responsible for remineralization of biomass and is used intentionally in some disinfection technologies. Photodegradation does not apply to how materials may be aged or degraded via infrared light or heat, but does include degradation in all of the ultraviolet light wavebands.
In polymers, such as plastics, thermal degradation refers to a type of polymer degradation where damaging chemical changes take place at elevated temperatures, without the simultaneous involvement of other compounds such as oxygen. Simply put, even in the absence of air, polymers will begin to degrade if heated high enough. It is distinct from thermal-oxidation, which can usually take place at less elevated temperatures.
Polymer stabilizers are chemical additives which may be added to polymeric materials, such as plastics and rubbers, to inhibit or retard their degradation. Common polymer degradation processes include oxidation, UV-damage, thermal degradation, ozonolysis, combinations thereof such as photo-oxidation, as well as reactions with catalyst residues, dyes, or impurities. All of these degrade the polymer at a chemical level, via chain scission, uncontrolled recombination and cross-linking, which adversely affects many key properties such as strength, malleability, appearance and colour.
In polymer chemistry photo-oxidation is the degradation of a polymer surface due to the combined action of light and oxygen. It is the most significant factor in the weathering of plastics. Photo-oxidation causes the polymer chains to break, resulting in the material becoming increasingly brittle. This leads to mechanical failure and, at an advanced stage, the formation of microplastics. In textiles the process is called phototendering.
Oxo-degradation, refers to the process by which plastics that contain additives that accelerate its breakdown into smaller fragments, called microplastics, when exposed to heat, light or oxygen. This is in contrast to biodegradable or compostable plastics, which break down at the molecular or polymer level. Oxo-degradable plastics are currently banned in the EU, but still permitted in other jurisdictions such as the UK.
(2,2,6,6-Tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl or (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxidanyl, commonly known as TEMPO, is a chemical compound with the formula (CH2)3(CMe2)2NO. This heterocyclic compound is a red-orange, sublimable solid. As a stable aminoxyl radical, it has applications in chemistry and biochemistry. TEMPO is used as a radical marker, as a structural probe for biological systems in conjunction with electron spin resonance spectroscopy, as a reagent in organic synthesis, and as a mediator in controlled radical polymerization.
4-Hydroxy-TEMPO or TEMPOL, formally 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl, is a heterocyclic compound. Like the related TEMPO, it is used as a catalyst and chemical oxidant by virtue of being a stable aminoxyl radical. Its major appeal over TEMPO is that it is less expensive, being produced from triacetone amine, which is itself made via the condensation of acetone and ammonia. This makes it economically viable on an industrial scale.
Aminoxyl denotes a radical functional group with general structure R2N–O•. It is commonly known as a nitroxyl radical or a nitroxide, however IUPAC discourages the use of these terms, as they erroneously suggest the presence of a nitro group. Aminoxyls are structurally related to hydroxylamines and N-oxoammonium salts, with which they can interconvert via a series of redox steps.
Pentaerythritol tetrakis(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyhydrocinnamate) is a chemical compound composed of 4 sterically hindered phenols linked through a pentaerythritol core. It is used as primary antioxidant for stabilizing polymers, particularly polyethylene and polypropylene.
In polymer chemistry, materials science, and food science, bloom refers to the migration of one component of a solid mixture to the surface of an article. The process is an example of phase separation or phase aggregation.
N-Isopropyl-N′-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (often abbreviated IPPD) is an organic compound commonly used as an antiozonant in rubbers. Like other p-phenylenediamine-based antiozonants it works by virtue of its low ionization energy, which allows it to react with ozone faster than ozone will react with rubber. This reaction converts it to the corresponding aminoxyl radical (R2N–O•), with the ozone being converted to a hydroperoxyl radical (HOO•), these species can then be scavenged by other antioxidant polymer stabilizers.
In polymer chemistry, polymerisation inhibitors are chemical compounds added to monomers to prevent their self-polymerisation. Unsaturated monomers such as acrylates, vinyl chloride, butadiene and styrene require inhibitors for both processing and safe transport and storage. Many monomers are purified industrially by distillation, which can lead to thermally-initiated polymerisation. Styrene, for example, is distilled at temperatures above 100 °C whereupon it undergoes thermal polymerisation at a rate of ~2% per hour. This polymerisation is undesirable, as it can foul the fractionating tower; it is also typically exothermic, which can lead to a runaway reaction and potential explosion if left unchecked. Once initiated, polymerisation is typically radical in mechanism and as such many polymerisation inhibitors act as radical scavengers.
Octadecyl 3-(3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate is a hindered phenolic antioxidant commonly used as a polymer stabiliser.
