Review of the ultrasensitive oxygen consumption method for making more reliable extrapolated predictions of polymer lifetimes

Predicting polymer lifetimes in air is often based on unconfirmed extrapolations of elevated-temperature Arrhenius behavior. To improve confidence in such extrapolations, we describe an ultrasensitive oxygen consumption approach. Measurements are made at elevated temperatures to confirm correlation between activation energies (E a ) for consumption and conventionally measured properties (e.g., mechanical). In addition, the sensitivity of the consumption approach allows measurements to be made in the lower-temperature extrapolation region, thereby testing whether the high-temperature E a remains constant.