Abstract
The temperature of initial decompositionT id was determined from TG and DTG curves of mass loss during thermooxidative polymer decomposition in an environmental air atmosphere. The values ofT id were applied for comparison of the thermal stabilities of several polymers, e.g. PC-A, PBT, PET, PPO and PVC. Both the activation energies of initial decompositionE id and the preexponential termsA id of the Arrhenius equation were calculated by using the Kissinger approach. The initial mass loss is proposed as a criterion for calculation of the time to failuret f from the known values ofE id andA id, and hence for a prediction of the lifetime of polymer materials.
The following thermal stability sequence was found for the investigated polymer materials: PC-A (st)>PC-A (nst)>PBT>PET>PPO>PVC (e)>PVC (c). The activation energy of initial decomposition had a mean value ofE id=83 kJ mol−1 for PC-A, PBT, PET and PPO, andE id=73 kJ mol−1 for the PVC samples.
The calculated time to failure,t f, for PC-A, PET and PVC under specified conditions was in reasonable agreement with published experimental data.
The proposed parameters of thermal decompositionT id,E id andt f, can be applied for the characterization and comparison of various polymer materials, and for a prediction of their lifetime.
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Financial support from the Polish Scientific Research Committee, the grant No. 7 761791 02, is gratefully acknowledged.
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Dobkowski, Z., Rudnik, E. Lifetime prediction for polymers via the temperature of initial decomposition. Journal of Thermal Analysis 48, 1393–1400 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01983450
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01983450