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Photocatalytic degradation of poly(ethylene oxide) and polyacrylamide
Author(s) -
Vijayalakshmi S. P.,
Madras Giridhar
Publication year - 2006
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/app.23190
Subject(s) - ethylene oxide , photodegradation , catalysis , degradation (telecommunications) , polyacrylamide , polymer , photocatalysis , gel permeation chromatography , materials science , chemical engineering , kinetics , oxide , ethylene , polymer degradation , polymer chemistry , nuclear chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , copolymer , telecommunications , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , engineering , metallurgy
The photocatalytic degradation of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and polyacrylamide (PAM) was investigated using combustion synthesized nano‐sized TiO 2 catalyst (CSN‐TiO 2 ). The degradation was conducted with two different UV lamps of 125 and 80 W. Degradation of PEO was observed in both the cases, whereas PAM degraded only when exposed to lamp of higher power, even in the presence of catalyst. Gel permeation chromatography was used to determine the molecular weight distribution. Continuous distribution kinetics was applied to determine the kinetics of the photodegradation process. The degradation rate coefficients of the polymers in the presence of combustion synthesized TiO 2 were higher than the degradation rate coefficients obtained with commercially available TiO 2 (Degussa P‐25). The enhanced degradation rate of the polymers when catalyzed by CSN‐TiO 2 can be due to the nano‐size, high surface area, and the presence of hydroxyl groups on the surface of the catalyst. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 3997–4003, 2006