Adsorption effect of added powder graphite on reduction of volatile organic compounds emissions from expanded polystyrene

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were evaluated with application of a thermal load of thermal insulation boards made of expanded polystyrene (EPS). Samples of commercially produced polystyrene EPS 100S and EPS GreyWall were tested at 60 °C. For qualitative and quantitative analyses, headspace gas chromatography mass spectrometry (HS-GC-MS) was used. To reduce VOC emissions, the chemically non-bound powder graphite was added to the EPS 100S in experiments. The aim of this research was to analyse the effects of graphite bound in EPS structure and of added free powder graphite on the VOC emissions, especially styrene. The research revealed that the graphite bounded in the GreyWall EPS structure had an effect on the reduction of VOCs emissions, and reduced styrene emissions by 14.6%. The addition of powder graphite resulted in a reduction in VOCs emissions below the detection limit.