Abstract
The chemical change of PVA caused by H2O2 in neutral aqueous solution at 60°C has been studied. In the reaction, PVA is degradated remarkably and shows characteristic ultraviolet absorption spectra, especially at 270 mμ and increases the content of carbonyl group which are resulted from the scission of PVA chain and the oxidation of the main chain. Furthermore, the carbonyl groups situated in the main chain may be partially in the β-diketone structure facilitates the scission of the chain during the reaction. The formation of carboxyl group proceeds rather slightly compared with that of carbonyl group under the conditions studied.
