Comparative non-isothermal kinetic analysis of thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride) prepared by living and conventional free radical polymerization methods

Non-isothermal kinetics of the thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) prepared by a living radical polymerization (LRP) method was performed and compared with the results obtained from PVC prepared by the conventional free-radical process (FRP). Both differential and integral isoconversional methods were applied for determining the apparent activation energy of the dehydrochlorination stage. This study made clear noticeable differences in the thermal degradation of the PVC samples under analysis. The newly synthesized LRP-PVC material has a better thermal stability and presents substantial differences in the macroscopic kinetics of the dehydrochlorination process compared with conventional FRP-PVC. These differences were assessed in quantitative terms on the basis of the kinetic triplet E_a,A,f(α)].