What are organic peroxides?
Overview
Organic peroxides are compounds containing 0-0 bond. The 0-0 bond is called the peroxide group. There are many organic peroxide types according to chemical structure around peroxide group. Some of main families are: alkylperoxides, acylperoxides, peroxyesters, peroxydicarbonates.
Organic peroxides are unstable compounds therefore their production, storage, transportation and usage requires special pre-cautions. Usually they are kept at low temperatures.
Organic Peroxides for High Polymers
Organic peroxides are used as initiators for the polymerization of unsaturated monomers.
- Tubular and otoclave process Low density polyethylene(LDPE)
- Suspension process Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
- Polyacrylate, polystyrene (EPS, GPPS, HIPS, SAN) and polybutadiene
Peroxide are also used for polyester curing and crosslinking.
Organic Peroxide Forms
Organic peroxides are available as solids (usually fine powders), liquids or pastes.
Some materials, such as water, odorless mineral spirits, and some phthalate esters which do not react with organic peroxides are often used to dilute them.These solvents are called “phelegmatizers”.The diluted mixtures or formulations are less likely to decompose when exposed to heat or physical shock than the undiluted organic peroxide. Dilution makes the unstable peroxides safer to produce, handle, and use.