High Throughput Screening of the Thermal Stability of Colorants in a Polycarbonate Matrix

The relative thermal stability of 44 colorants of interest to GE Plastics as polymer colorants was determined. The effects of common (non-colorant) additives on the thermal stability in a polymer matrix were also determined. The measurements were carried out by reflectance spectrometry on thin films of polymers that had been subjected to heating cycles. The change in the visible spectrum was used as an indicator of thermal stability. This paper discusses the method and overall results for the experiments.