Thermal analysis of plastic and CFAs
The melting temperature (Tm) of the HDPE was determined using a Shimadzu differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) at a heating rate of 10°C/min in a nitrogen atmosphere. The peak melt temperature of the HDPE was 133.2°C (with the onset and end set at 123 and 143°C, respectively). The thermal decomposition behaviors of CFAs (i.e., decomposition temperature, decomposition rate, and decomposition heat) were characterized using a high pressure DSC (Mettler Toledo Star System) at a heating rate of 10°C/min in a nitrogen atmosphere. The results are summarized in Table II. The decomposition temperatures of the CFAs listed in Table II were characterized as the peak position of the decomposition of the CFAs. The decomposition rate of the CFAs was obtained by measuring the width of the decomposition peaks at half their height. The decomposition heat (H) was determined from the area under the DSC curve (i.e., the amount of heat released or absorbed by the CFAs upon their decomposition reactions). A positive sign denotes the heat given off by the materials (exothermic), whereas a negative sign denotes the heat absorbed by the materials (endothermic). These thermal behaviors were