DIRECT PYROLYSIS OF CELLULOSE AND CELLULOSE DERIVATIVES IN A MASS-SPECTROMETER WITH A DATA SYSTEM

Direct pyrolysis of unmodified and flame-retardant cellulose was temperature-programmed in the solid probe of a mass spectrometer equipped with a GCMS data system. Single spectra or summations of spectra were used to estimate amounts of primary products evolved at any point or throughout the entire pyrolysis. Ion pyrograms analogous to mass chromatograms, and spectrum subtractions were used to locate and measure spectra of compounds at temperatures distinct from those of cellulose pyrolysis, even when these compounds were formed in small amounts and mixed with larger amounts of cellulose products. High-accuracy mass assignments were used to detect phosphorus in some pyrolysis products from the flame retardants. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.