A Parr Instruments Company (Moline, USA) high pressure bomb
reactor having a nominal volume of 100 ml was used to carryout
the polymer degradation reactions. The reaction volume, accounting
for the associated valves, pipework and fittings, was determined
as 115 ml. A solvent loading rate of 50% by volume was used
for all experiments. A Parr Instruments Company 4848 Reactor
Controller and furnace were used to achieve the required reaction
conditions. The reactor internal pressure was monitored by an
analogue pressure gauge (SPAN, USA) and a pressure transducer
with digital readout (Druck, UK).