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Thermal decomposition of poly(oxytetramethylene) glycol
Author(s) -
Tago K.,
Tsuchiya M.,
Gondo Y.,
Ishimaru K.,
Kojima T.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4628(20000815)77:7<1538::aid-app15>3.0.co;2-j
Subject(s) - thermogravimetric analysis , thermal decomposition , ether , pyrolysis , chemistry , decomposition , isothermal process , polymer chemistry , infrared spectroscopy , polymer , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , physics
Studies of thermal decomposition on poly(oxytetramethylene) glycol have been conducted by pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric anaylysis (TGA). The major volatile decomposition products are suggested to be a series of molecules made up by the repetition of oxytetramethylene with formyl and/or methyl ends. Absorption peaks, associated with formyl appear in infrared spectrum of a sample preheated at 523°K lower than the onset temperature obtained from the TGA curve. The isothermal TGA curves fit well to the Shimha rate equation for the random decomposition of polymers. The proper activation energies obtained from the thermally controlled and the isothermal TGA data are approximately 60–70 kJ mol −1 and lower than those for other polymers in ordinary thermal decomposition. These data suggest that the major reaction in the thermal decomposition of poly(oxytetramethylene) glycol is an ether cleavage. Two pathways, a radical scission accompanied by β‐hydrogen transfer and a nonradical reaction through a four‐membered ring transition state, are proposed and discussed for the ether cleavage. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 1538–1544, 2000