NIST Polymer Pyrolysis Search: A New Pyrolysis GC-MS Search Program and Mass Spectral Reference Library

Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of a material in an inert environment and is used in combination with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC/MS) for analyzing the chemical composition of a wide variety of organic materials. The identification and deconvolution of polymers, including mixtures with complex matrixes using a searchable mass spectral library of individual pyrolysis products (pyrolyzates) is presented. It is demonstrated that this method can successfully identify components in polymer mixtures, including polyolefins, a mixture of polymers that have secondary reactions during pyrolysis, a copolymer as distinct from homopolymers of its individual components, and a polymer within a complex biological matrix (with a prepyrolysis in situ hydrolysis and methylation step). The resulting interactive, freely available search software application and pyrolysis reference library for the qualitative identification of polymers is described.