ABSTRACT
The protection of organic material against oxidative degradation processes during fabrication, processing, storage, or end use is a prerequisite to their successful application. This is particularly true for natural and synthetic polymers. Polymers are subjected to heat, mechanical stress, oxygen, sunlight, and other degradation-initiating influences of different intensities during their lifetime, which leads to changes of chemical and physical properties of the material. The extent of oxidative degradation of polymers is influenced not only by the aggressiveness of the environment and an inherent sensitivity of the polymer structure itself, but also by catalytic impurities and, especially in polymers, by the morphology of the substrate. It is evident from the enumeration of the deterioration processes that different additives, especially inhibitors of oxidation processes, must be used to protect organic materials and to guarantee a sufficient performance during their envisaged application. The steady increase in the production and use of polymers in the last decades has also been accompanied by an increasing consumption of polymer stabilizers.
