Kinetics of Thermal Decomposition of Copper(II) Acetate Monohydrate

The thermal decomposition of copper(II) acetate monohydrate was studied in air and nitrogen atmospheres by means of DTA-TG and SEM measurements. The kinetics of the thermal decomposition steps in air was studied by using isothermal and non-isothermal thermogravimetric techniques. The results are discussed in terms of various reaction interface models and different techniques of computational analysis of non-isothermal data. The activation parameters, calculated by using a composite method of integral analysis of non-isothermal data, revealed not only their independence from the heating rate and fractional reaction, but also a better correlation and agreement with the results obtained under isothermal conditions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Simulation of isothermal cure of A powder coating

The curing of a thermosetting powder coating was studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The isothermal cure was simulated by non-isothermal experiments. The results of the simulation were compared with experimental isothermal data. From non-isothermal isoconversional procedures (free model), it was concluded that these permit simulation of the isothermal cure but do not enable us to determine the complete kinetic triplet (A preexponential factor, E activation energy, f(a) and/or g(a) function of conversion). Non-isothermal procedures based on a single heating rate or on master curves present difficulties for determination of all the kinetic parameters, due to the compensation effect between preexponential factor and activation energy. The kinetic triplet can be determined by a combination of various non-isothermal methods or by using experimental isothermal data in addition to non-isothermal data. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the nonlinear isoconversional procedures to evaluate the activation energy of nonisothermal reactions in solids

A general procedure for deriving the equations that underlie various isoconversional nonlinear methods for evaluating the activation energy is presented. A new integral isoconversional nonlinear method with integration over a given range of conversion is suggested. This method was applied to simulated nonisothermal data as well as to data for the nonisothermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate. The obtained dependencies of the activation energy on the degree of conversion were compared with those resulting from other nonlinear and linear methods of analysis. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 36: 87–93 2004     

Model-free method for isothermal and non-isothermal decomposition kinetics analysis of PET sample

Pyrolysis, one possible alternative to recover valuable products from waste plastics, has recently been the subject of renewed interest. In the present study, the isoconversion methods, i.e., Vyazovkin model-free approach is applied to study non-isothermal decomposition kinetics of waste PET samples using various temperature integral approximations such as Coats and Redfern, Gorbachev, and Agrawal and Sivasubramanian approximation and direct integration (recursive adaptive Simpson quadrature scheme) to analyze the decomposition kinetics.The results show that activation energy (E_α) is a weak but increasing function of conversion (α) in case of non-isothermal decomposition and strong and decreasing function of conversion in case of isothermal decomposition. This indicates possible existence of nucleation, nuclei growth and gas diffusion mechanism during non-isothermal pyrolysis and nucleation and gas diffusion mechanism during isothermal pyrolysis. Optimum E_α dependencies on α obtained for non-isothermal data showed similar nature for all the types of temperature integral approximations.     

Investigation on the thermal stability of nitroguanidine by TG/DSC-MS-FTIR and multivariate non-linear regression

Thermal behavior of nitroguanidine (NQ) has been investigated by TG/DSC-MS-FTIR simultaneous analysis performed under both isothermal and nonisothermal conditions. The isothermal test at 230 °C indicated that the release of gas products can be divided into several stages. The processing of the non-isothermal data, namely 5, 10, 15, and 20 K/min, was performed by using Netzsch Thermokinetics. The dependence of the activation energy evaluated by Friedman’s isoconversional method on the conversion degree shows that the investigated process is complex one, and can be divided into three parts. The mechanism of the process and the corresponding kinetic parameters were determined by Multivariate Non-linear Regression Program. The kinetic results was used to simulate the thermal decomposition of NQ under isothermal condition at 210 °C. The simulated curve is in agreement with the tested curve. The obtained results were also used for prediction of the thermal lifetime of NQ corresponding to a certain temperature.     

Estimation of Activation Energies for Thermooxidative Degradations of LDPE and NBR from Non-Isothermal and Isothermal DTA Data

Results obtained on the thermooxidative degradations of LDPE (low-density polyethylene) and NBR (nitrile-butadiene rubber) are presented. The activation energies for the thermooxidations leading to solid products were estimated. For LDPE, the activation energies obtained from non-isothermal data are in satisfactory agreement with those obtained from isothermal data. For NBR, the isothermal activation energy is ≉16% higher than the non-isothermal one. This difference is due to the morphological changes undergone by NBR during its heating at the rather high temperatures at which isothermal measurements were performed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

DSC Analysis of the Induction Period in the Vulcanisation of Rubber Compounds

Vulcanisation of rubber compounds was studied by DSC under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. The parameters of an Arrhenius-like equation describing the temperature dependence of induction period have been obtained both from isothermal and non-isothermal measurements. A new method for obtaining the kinetic parameters from non-isothermal measurements, based on the dependence of onset temperature of vulcanisation peak on heating rate, is presented. Also, a procedure for the evaluation of temperature difference between the furnace and sample is proposed. It has been shown that the treatment of non-isothermal DSC measurements gives the kinetic parameters free of systematic errors. The new method can also be used for studying other reactions exhibiting the induction period. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Study of Thermal Decomposition Kinetics of Low-temperature Reaction of Ammonium Perchlorate by Isothermal TG

The kinetics of the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate at temperatures between 215 and 260°C is studied, in this work, by measuring the sample mass loss as a function of time applying the isothermal thermogravimetric method. From the maximum decomposition rate – temperature dependence two different decomposition stages, corresponding to two different structural phases of ammonium perchlorate, are identified. For the first region (215–235°C), corresponding to the orthorhombic phase, the mean value of the activation energy of 146.3 kJ mol^–1, and the pre-exponential factor of 3.43⋅10¹⁴ min^–1 are obtained, whereas for the second region (240–260°C), corresponding to the cubic phase, the mean value of the activation energy of153.3 kJ mol^–1, and the pre-exponential factor of 4.11⋅10¹⁴ min^–1 are obtained. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Pore size distribution analysis of selected hexagonal mesoporous silicas by grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations

We combine here a regularization procedure with individual adsorption isotherms obtained from grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations in order to obtain reliable pore size distributions. The methodology is applied to two hexagonal high-ordered silica materials: SBA-15 and PHTS, synthesized in our laboratory. Feasible pore size distributions are calculated through an adaptable procedure of deconvolution over the adsorption integral equation, with two necessary inputs: the experimental adsorption data and individual adsorption isotherms, assuming the validity of the independent pore model. The application of the deconvolution procedure implies an adequate grid size evaluation (i.e., numbers of pores and relative pressures to be considered for the inversion, or kernel size), the fulfillment of the discret Picard condition, and the appropriate choice of the regularization parameter (L-curve criteria). Assuming cylindrical geometry for both porous materials, the same set of individual adsorption isotherms generated from molecular simulations can be used to construct the kernel to obtain the PSD of SBA-15 and PHTS. The PSD robustness is measured imposing random errors over the experimental data. Excellent agreement is found between the calculated and the experimental global adsorption isotherms for both materials. Molecular simulations provide new insights into the studied systems, pointing out the need of high-resolution isotherms to describe the presence of complementary microporosity in these materials.     

Is there any convergence between the differential and integral procedures used in chemical kinetics,particularly in nonisothermal kinetics?

Some contradictions concerning the classification of the methods to evaluate nonisothermal kinetic parameters into differential and integral ones are analyzed. Using the theorem of media for integrals, the equivalence between the methods that use the integration on low ranges of variables and the differential methods is shown. Concerning the magnitude of the range of change of variables on which the integration of the rate equation is performed, the applicability of the isoconversional methods that use approximate expressions of the temperature integral (Simpson's formula, formula based on the theorem of media for integrals) was analyzed. Our results were verified for simulated data (which are not affected by the experimental errors) as well as for the nonisothermal data for the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 38: 339–344, 2006     

A simple and precise linear integral method for isoconversional data

A simple and precise linear integral method to evaluate the activation energy dependence on the extent of conversion has been proposed. The method leads to consistent results with those from differential and integral non-linear procedure (Vyazovkin method). Moreover, the new procedure yields the pre-exponential factor and the kinetic model. The method was evaluated from isothermal, non-isothermal and non-linear non-isothermal data (CRTA).     

Thermal Decomposition of BaC2O4·0.5H2O Studied by Stepwise Isothermal Analysis and Non-Isothermal Thermogravimetry

Thermal decomposition of BaC2O4·0.5H2O in air was studied by a combination of stepwise isothermal analysis (SIA) and non-isothermal thermogravimetry. The results from both techniques show that the crystal water is released in one step and that anhydrous barium oxalate is decomposed in one step, while BaCO3 decomposes in three steps to BaO, forming two intermediate compounds with the formulas of BaCO3·(BaO)2 and (BaCO3)0.5·(BaO)2.5. Reaction mechanism analyses using the data from SIA measurements show that the controlling mechanism for all the five decomposition steps in isothermal conditions is a two-dimensional phase-boundary controlled process. Kinetic parameters are obtained for the five decomposition steps from the non-isothermal thermogravimetric data. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Kinetics of Thermal Decomposition of Lithium Hexafluorophosphate

With on-line coupled thermo-gravimetric analyzer-Fourier transform infrared spectrometer technique, the thermal decomposition of lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF₆) and its gas evolution at inert environment (H₂O<10 ppm) were studied under both non-isothermal and isothermal conditions. The results showed that the LiPF₆ decomposition is a single-stage reaction with LiF as final residue and PF₅ as gas product. In addition, its decomposi-tion kinetics was determined as 2D phase boundary movement (cylindrical symmetry) under both non-isothermal and isothermal conditions. Furthermore, the activation energy of LiPF₆ decomposition was calculated as 104 and 92 kJ/mol for non-isothermal and isothermal con-ditions, respectively.     

Thermal decomposition kinetics of potassium iodate

The thermal decomposition of potassium iodate (KIO₃) has been studied by both non-isothermal and isothermal thermogravimetry (TG). The non-isothermal simultaneous TG–differential thermal analysis (DTA) of the thermal decomposition of KIO₃ was carried out in nitrogen atmosphere at different heating rates. The isothermal decomposition of KIO₃ was studied using TG at different temperatures in the range 790–805 K in nitrogen atmosphere. The theoretical and experimental mass loss data are in good agreement for the thermal decomposition of KIO₃. The non-isothermal decomposition of KIO₃ was subjected to kinetic analyses by model-free approach, which is based on the isoconversional principle. The isothermal decomposition of KIO₃ was subjected to both conventional (model fitting) and model-free (isoconversional) methods. It has been observed that the activation energy values obtained from all these methods agree well. Isothermal model fitting analysis shows that the thermal decomposition kinetics of KIO₃ can be best described by the contracting cube equation.     

Nanocrystallization of anatase in amorphous TiO2

The kinetics of nanocrystallization in amorphous TiO₂ has been studied in non-isothermal conditions by DSC. It was found that this process could be well described by standard Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov (JMA) model with kinetic exponent m≅1. The kinetic parameters were calculated by simultaneous analysis of experimental data taken at different heating rates. These parameters were used as a basis for prediction of crystallization kinetics in isothermal conditions. The agreement between the JMA model prediction and experimental data depends on the method of preparation of amorphous TiO₂.     

Gamma irradiation effects on the kinetics of the non-isothermal decomposition of potassium nickel oxalate

The kinetics of the non-isothermal decomposition of potassium nickel(II) oxalate in air were studied for non-irradiated and irradiated crystals using thermogravimetric techniques. Analysis of kinetic data were performed using the direct differential method, the integral methods due to Coats-Redfern, Ozawa and a composite integral method. The results of the kinetic analysis of dynamic data and the effects of radiation were discussed and compared with those obtained under isothermal conditions.     

Effect of tetramethylammonium perchlorate on ammonium perchlorate and propellant decomposition

The thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) is considerably modified when it is cocrystallized or mixed with small amounts of tetramethyl- ammonium perchlorate. The decomposition is sensitized when tetramethylphosphonium perchlorate is added to AP. The effect on the isothermal decomposition of AP when it is mixed with tetramethylammonium perchlorate, appears to be similar to that of AP-based composite propellant having the same mixed AP composition.     

Oxidation of Saturated Fatty Acids Esters DSC investigations

Oxidation of saturated fatty acids ethyl esters: laurate, myristate, palmitate and stearate was investigated by means of DSC techniques under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. The activation energies of isothermal oxidation were similar to each other (112–123 kJ mol⁻¹) and no influence of carbon length on the rate of oxidative decomposition was observed. Results obtained from non-isothermal experiments were similar only for the first stage of oxidation. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Comparative results of kinetic data obtained with different methods for complex decomposition steps

A comparative kinetic analysis on the thermal decomposition of tartaric acid and potassium tartrate under non-isothermal conditions was performed. The non-isothermal kinetic parameters were determined by the following four methods: integral isoconversional method suggested by Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO method); differential isoconversional method suggested by Friedman; Budrugeac-Segal method and Non-Parametric-Kinetic (NKP) method suggested by Sempere and Nomen and modified by Vlase and Doca. The comparison of the results obtaining by these methods leads to interesting conclusions. The experimental data were obtained in dynamic nitrogen atmosphere at heating rates of 5, 7, 10, 12 and 15 K min⁻¹. The less speculative kinetic analysis was possible by the NPK method.     

Thermal degradation of a styrenated unsatured polyester resin

The isothermal and non-isothermal degradation of a typical styrenated phthalic acid-maleic acid-propylene glycol polyester were measured. Non-isothermal and isothermal kinetic analyses were performed on the various degradation steps observed. The values of the non-isothermal and the isothermal kinetic parameters are in good agreement.