Photochemical behaviour of thio-organotin stabilizers in polystyrene films

Abstract

The sensitizing activity of thio-organotin stabilizers and some of their known or presumed by-products was studied during the photooxidation of polystyrene films in the solar UV range. All the dialkyltin dithioesters accelerated the photo-oxidation of PS noticeably. Among by-products, dialkyltin thioester chloride and alkyltin trichloride are also sensitizers. The nature of primary photochemical acts is discussed on the basis of a comparison of the electronic spectra of the compounds under study.