n (ABFA, azodicarbonamide) H2NCON=NCONH2. An aliphatic azo compound widely used as a chemical blowing agent in PVC, polystyrene, polyolefins, many other plastics, and in natural and synthetic rubbers. It is nontoxic, odorless, nonstaining, and, unlike other organic blowing agents, it is self-extinguishing and does not support combustion. Since ABFA in the pure state decomposes at temperatures above 216°C, when used with heat-sensitive plastics such as PVC, an activator that lowers its decomposition temperature is added to the compound. Such activators are compounds of cadmium, zinc, and lead, which also act as heat stabilizers, either directly or synergistically with other stabilizers (Wickson EJ (ed) (1993) Handbook of polyvinyl chloride formulating. Wiley, New York; Carley JF (ed) (1993) Whittington's dictionary of plastics. Technomic Publishing).
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Gooch, J.W. (2011). Azobisformamide. In: Gooch, J.W. (eds) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Polymers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6247-8_940
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6247-8_940
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