Formation of toxic gases during pyrolysis of polyacrylonitrile and nylons

The FT-IR technique was found to be suitable for the rapid determination of toxic species. Formation of toxic gases such as HCN, CO and NH₃ during temperature programmed (10 °C/min) pyrolysis of polyacrylonitrile and nylon 6.6, 6.12 and 12 was determined in a fixed bed reactor. For polyacrylonitrile (PAN), HCN and NH₃ were the major toxic-products, whereas NH₃ only was the major toxic product for nylons. During pyrolysis of PAN, the yield of HCN was more than 100 times greater than that during pyrolysis of nylons. CO was formed during pyrolysis of all the tested polymers.