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The number of fires appear to be increasing all over the world with some big fires started from burning sofa polyurethane foam (PUF). The general public is quite concerned about the risk of fire due to the extensive use of polyurethane-based materials. Better understanding of the fire behavior of the materials would provide guidelines on fire safety provision. The first step is to review the thermal decomposition mechanisms of polyurethane under different environmental conditions, which will be reported in this paper. Recent studies on the thermal decomposition kinetics and thermal stability of polyurethane are described. Thermal decomposition and combustion reactions of polyether-polyurethane and polyester-polyurethane in air and nitrogen atmospheres investigated by using thermogravimetry analysis will then be outlined. The kinetic processes of polyurethane decomposition studied by the model fitting method are discussed. Polyester-polyurethane was found to be thermally more stable than polyether-polyuret...

The resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectra of atomic chlorine and bromine in the range of 230-245 nm and 250-285 nm were obtained by using REMPI and time of flight (TOF) techniques. There are twenty-six lines for Cl and twenty-three for Br in the spectra, among which five transitions of Cl and four of Br are observed for the first time. These lines are due to transitions from the Cl(3p 2P3/20, 2P1/20) and Br(4p 2P3/20, 2P1/20) states to upper states induced by two-photon excitation. It is found that the Stark shift of different excited states are almost the same, and they are independent of the S, L, and J quantum numbers of the excited state.

The (2+1) resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectra of the CF2Cl radicals, which are generated by a pulsed dc discharge,were investigated between 332 and 362nm.Two new Rydberg states,4s and 4p,were observed and indentified.The observed states and spectroscopic constants include 4s Rydberg state (band origin ν0—0=55371cm-1,ω3′ (CF2 scissors)=523±7cm-1,ω′4 (OPLA,i.e.,out-of-plane bending mode)=734±4cm-1) and 4p Rydberg state (ν0—0=57601.3cm-1,ω3′=552±10cm-1,ω4′=762±12cm-1).The quantum defect values of 4s and 4p Rydberg states were also estimated.It seems that the radical production by a pulsed dc discharge combined with PEMPI technique is a powerful tool to study the electronic state of radicals.

Laser-induced fluorescence excitaion spectrum of gas-phase dichlocarbene (CC12) cooled in the supersonic jet has been observed in the range of 497-517 nm. The K-structrue of the (v1,v2,0)-(0,0,0) vibrational bands was resolved. About 80 su-bbands were assigned. v＇1= 643.5cm-1, v＇2 = 308.0cm-1 and the anharmonic costants, and (A＇-B＇) = 3.67cm-1, (A" - B") = 1.80cm-1 were obtained from the analysis of spectra.