Thermal stability and non-isothermal kinetics of poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) nanofibers

A thermogravimetric study of poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) nanofibers was carried out at five heating rates with a linear increase in the temperature in a nitrogen atmosphere. The data provided by the thermogravimetric study were used to evaluate the kinetics of the degradation process using three isoconversional methods. Considering that the kinetic parameters of the process depend on the reaction mechanism, various approaches were applied in order to determine the most probable mechanism function. In this respect, the mechanism of thermal degradation of poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) is a phase boundary reaction with cylindrical symmetry (F-0.5 function) as demonstrated by the z(alpha) master plots method, iso-temperature method and isoconversional method. On their basis, the values of the kinetic triplet (E-a, A and the shape of the most appropriate f(alpha) function) of the process were obtained, and subsequently the thermodynamic functions of the activated complex formation were calculated. The thermal stability of the polymer was predicted according to the integral procedure decomposition temperature. (c) 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.