Thermal degradation of polyisobutylene studied using factor-jump thermogravimetry

The overall activation energy of the thermal degradation of polyisobutylene has been measured using factor-jump thermogravimetry to be 206±1 kJ/mole over the range 365 to 405° in N₂ at 800 mm Hg pressure and flowing at 4 mm/s over the sample. This is consistent with some values reported for thermal degradation in vacuum and in solution. In 5 mm Hg of N₂, an apparent activation energy of 218±2 kJ/mole was found, and in vacuum the apparent activation energy is 238±13 kJ/mole. Troublesome bubbling made the vacuum values difficult to measure. Substitution of reasonable values for the activation energies of initiation,E _i , termination,E _t , and the activation energy,E _a , for vacuum degradation in the equationE _a =E _i /2E _d -E _t /2 yields an activation energy E_d=84 kJ/mole for the unzipping reaction. This equation presupposes a degradation mechanism of random initiation, unzipping, and bimolecular termination. Substitution of reasonable values for the heat of polymerization, ΔH, in the definition ΔH=E _p ?e _d suggests that the activation energy of the polymerization reaction at 375° is approximately 30 kJ/mole.     

Application of iso-temperature method of multiple rate to kinetic analysis

A new method of the multiple rate iso-temperature was used to define the most probable mechanism g(α) of a reaction; the iterative iso-conversional procedure has been employed to estimate apparent activation energy E _a, the pre-exponential factor A was obtained on the basis of E _a and g(α). In this new method, the thermal analysis kinetics triplet of dehydration of calcium oxalate monohydrate is determined, which apparent activation energy E _a is 82.83 kJ mol^-1, pre-exponential factor A is 1.142·10⁵-1.235·10⁵ s^-1, the most probable mechanism belongs to phase boundary reaction R_n with integral form g(α)=1-(1-α)ⁿ and differential form f(α)=n(1-α)^1-(1/n), where accommodation factor n=2.40-1.40.     

Kinetic study of ethylene polymerization with chromium oxide catalysts by a radiotracer technique

The quenching of polymerization with a chromium oxide catalyst by radioactive methanol ¹⁴CH₃OH enables one to determine the concentration of propagation centers and then to calculate the rate constant of the propagation. The dependence of the concentration of propagation centers and the polymerization rate on reaction time, ethylene concentration, and temperature was investigated. The change of the concentration of propagation centers with the duration of polymerization was found to be responsible for the time dependence of the overall polymerization rate. The propagation reaction is of first order on ethylene concentration in the pressure range 2–25 kg/cm². For catalysts of different composition, the temperature dependence of the overall polymerization rate and the propagation rate constant were determined, and the overall activation energy E_ov and activation energy of the propagation state E_p were calculated. The difference between E_ov and E_p is due to the change of the number of propagation centers with temperature. The variation of catalyst composition and preliminary reduction of the catalyst influence the shape of the temperature dependence of the propagation center concentration and change E_ov.     

Calorimetric study of cross-linking polymerization of methyl methacrylate in the presence of a multimonomer

The kinetics of free-radical cross-linking polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MM) in the presence of poly[2-(10-undecenoyloxy)ethyl methacrylate] (PUDEM) as a macromolecular cross-linker has been isothermally examined within the temperature range from 85–100°C using the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The activation energy found for this reaction, E _a=89.3 kJ mol^–1, exceeds slightly the literature values of activation energy obtained for the mass polymerization of MM without any cross-linking agent. The activation energy has been also determined by the isoconversion method. It has been found that E _a decreases with the increase in the conversion, which may indicate a change in the reaction mechanism.This work was partly supported by the Committee for Research (KBN) in the framework of project No. 7 T08E 026 20     

Non-isothermal kinetics of free-radical polymerization of 2,2-dinitro-1-butyl acrylate

The free-radical bulk polymerization of 2,2-dinitro-1-butyl-acrylate (DNBA) in the presence of 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the initiator was investigated by DSC in the non-isothermal mode. Kissinger and Ozawa methods were applied to determine the activation energy (E _a) and the reaction order of free-radical polymerization. The results showed that the temperature of exothermic polymerization peaks increased with increasing the heating rate. The reaction order of non-isothermal polymerization of DNBA in the presence of AIBN is approximately 1. The average activation energy (92.91±1.88 kJ mol ⁻¹) obtained was smaller slightly than the value of E _a=96.82 kJ mol⁻¹ found with the Barrett method.     

Determination of kinetic parameters for the reaction between phenol and formaldehyde by differential scanning calorimetry

The kinetic parameters of the complex reaction between phenol and formaldehyde in the presence of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) have been obtained by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The two dominant reactions appear to be addition of formaldehyde to phenol with formation of o-hydroxymethyl-phenol and subsequent condensation of the latter. For both reactions, the activation energy (E_a), reaction order and rate constants at different temperatures have been determined. E_a for addition changes from 23·7 to 19·3 kcal mole^?1 and for condensation from 22·9 to 19·1 kcal mole^?1 when the amount of NaOH is increased from 0·25 to 1·00 per cent. The reaction order for addition is 2 and for condensation 1. Thus DSC appears useful for studying the kinetics of more complex polymerization reactions.     

Reactivity of haloalkanes in their reactions with the chlorine atom

Experimental kinetic data on reactions of the chlorine atom with halogenated derivatives of methane and ethane (37 reactions) have been analyzed by the intersecting-parabolas method. The following five factors have an effect on the activation energy of these reactions: the enthalpy of reaction, triplet repulsion, the electronegativities of the reaction center atoms, the dipole–dipole and multidipole interactions between the reaction center and polar groups, and the effect of π electrons in the vicinity of the reaction center. The increments characterizing the contribution from each factor to the activation energy of the reaction have been calculated. The contribution from the polar interaction, ΔE _μ, to the activation energy depends on the dipole moment of the polar group and obeys the following empirical equation: ln(Δ_{E μ}/Σμ) = ?0.74 + 0.87(ΔE _μ/Σμ) ? 0.084(ΔE _μ/Σμ)².     

Effect of temperature on the number of active sites and propagation rate constant at ethylene polymerization over supported bis(imino)pyridine iron catalysts

The inhibition of ethylene polymerization with radioactive carbon monoxide (¹⁴CO) was used to obtain data on the number of active sites (C_P) and propagation rate constant (k_P) at ethylene polymerization in the temperature range of 35–70 °C over supported catalysts LFeCl₂/Al₂O₃, LFeCl₂/SiO₂, and LFeCl₂/MgCl₂ (L: 2,6‐(2,6‐(Me)₂C₆H₃N = CMe)₂C₅H₃N) with activator Al(i‐Bu)₃. The values of effective activation energy (E_eff), activation energy of propagation reaction (E_P), and temperature coefficients of variation of the number of active sites (E_Cp = E_eff ? E_P) were determined. The activation energies of propagation reaction for catalysts LFeCl₂/Al₂O₃, LFeCl₂/SiO₂, and LFeCl₂/MgCl₂ were found to be quite similar (5.2–5.7 kcal/mol). The number of active sites diminished considerably as the polymerization temperature decreased, the E_Cp value being 5.2–6.2 kcal/mol for these catalysts at polymerization in the presence of hydrogen. The reactions of reversible transformations of active centers to the surface hydride species at polymerization in the presence and absence of hydrogen are proposed as the derivation of E_Cp. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 6621–6629, 2008     

The effect of curvature of Li-doped polycyclic hydrocarbon on its interaction energy with H<Subscript>2</Subscript> and H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O: DF-SAPT (DFT) calculation

In this work, the interaction of three Li⁺-doped polycyclic hydrocarbons (Li⁺-DPH) with H₂ and H₂O was calculated to investigate the effect of curvature of substrate on the interaction energy (E_int). For this purpose, the E_int and its decomposed energy components (electrostatic (E_elec), exchange (E_exch), induction (E_ind), and dispersion energy (E_disp)) were calculated using DF-SAPT (DFT) methodology for the selected systems (Li⁺-(3,3) carbon nanotube (Li⁺-CNT33), Li⁺-(6,6) carbon nanotube (Li⁺-CNT66), and Li⁺-graphene). According to the results, E_int does not change significantly with curvature for the interaction between both H₂ and H₂O gases and the selected Li⁺-DPH. Since the variation of the E_int with the curvature of Li⁺-DPH is not significant, the selection of a planar Li⁺-DPH is a trustworthy model to develop a general force field for describing the interaction between a Li⁺-DPH and adsorbed gases. The results reveal that, in the case of the H₂, the components E_elect, E_exch, E_ind, and E_disp have shown a decreasing trend with Li⁺-DPH’s curvature decrement. However, for the H₂O, E_elect, E_exch, and E_ind decrease from the Li⁺-CNT33 to the Li⁺-CNT66 while they increase from the Li⁺-CNT66 to the Li⁺-graphene. In this case, the E_disp increases with a decrease of the curvature of Li⁺-DPH. Finally, it can be seen that although the variation of the E_int with the curvature of Li⁺-DPH is not significant, the variation trend of the interaction energy components and the amount of variation depend on the gas molecule and in some cases are not negligible.     

A study of radical polymerization of N-vinylpyrrolidone in the presence of poly(methacrylic acid) templates by DSC

The template polymerization of N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) along syndiotactic poly(methacrylic acid) (s1-PMAA) templates has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) using the scanning as well as the isothermal technique. The resulting Arrhenius plot covers a temperature range between 65 and 120°C and two parts can be distinguished. Below 80°C the overall activation energy, E_a, and entropy ΔS^≠, are 76 kJ · mol^?1 and ?79 J · mol^?1 · K^?1 respectively, in excellent agreement with previous dilatometric results. These values differ slightly from those of the blank polymerization leading to rate enhancement by a factor of only two. The small difference in activation parameters is explained by the occurrence of desolvation of st-PMAA chains during propagation of the polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) radicals along the template. Above 80°C, the decreasing tendency to form complexes between PVP and st-PMAA results in a decreasing template effect and a gradual change of apparent E_a and ΔS^≠ values towards those of the blank polymerization. Similar results were obtained with atactic and isotactic PMAA templates, but smaller rate enhancements were observed due to weaker complex formation.     

Organic chemistry of subvalent transition metal complexes: XI. Oxidative additions of nickel(0) complexes to carbon-carbon bonds in alkynes: Nickelirenes and nickeloles as catalytic carriers in the oligomerization of alkynes

The formation of 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylnickelole-bis(triphenylphosphine) (IIIa) and 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylnickelole-bis(1,2-diphenylphosphino)ethane (IIIb), either from (E,E)-1,2,3,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadien-1,4-ylidenedilithium (I) and the corresponding nickel(II) chloride-phosphine complexes (II) or from the reduction of η⁴-tetraphenylcyclobutadienenickel(II) bromide dimer (XII) in the presence of phosphines, proceeds in good yields. Nickelole IIIa displays physical and chemical properties consistent with its structure and is a catalyst for the trimerization of diphenylacetylene. Nickelole IIIb is a highly associated structure but in its chemical response to alkynes, HOAc, O₂, Br₂, NaAlEt₂H₂ and heat displays the properties of a nickelole, rather than a cyclobutadienenickel(0) complex. Attempts to generate IIIb photochemically from η⁴-1,5-cyclooctadiene(η⁴-tetraphenylcyclopentadienone)nickel and diphos failed, but it was shown that structural types, such as η⁴-tetraphenyl-cyclopentadienone(diphos)nickel (a model for the structure suggested by Hoberg and Richter for IIIb), are unstable.Oligomerizations of diphenylacetylene by bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)nickel were retarded by conducting the reaction in THF or in the presence of diphos. This retardation permitted the interception of products (cis-stilbene and (E,E)-1,2,3,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene) diagnostic for the intermediacy of nickelirenes and nickeloles. Deuterium labeling verified the presence of carbon-nickel bonds. These trapping experiments, together with findings on the thermal behavior of nickeloles, are combined into a comprehensive view of the cyclotrimerization, cyclotetramerization and linear polymerization of alkynes by nickel(0).     

Synthesis and kinetic studies of PMMA nanoparticles by non-conventionally initiated emulsion polymerization

The aqueous emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was studied under the catalytic effect of in situ developed bivalent transition metal-EDTA complex with ammonium persulfate (APS, (NH₄)₂S₂O₈) as initiator. Out of these, Cu(II)-EDTA system was selected for detailed kinetic and spectrometric study of polymerization. The apparent activation energy E_a, 34.5 kJ/mol, activation energy of initiator decomposition E_d, 26.9 kJ/mol, energy of propagation E_p, 29 kJ/mol and energy of termination E_t, 16 kJ/mol were reported. The emulsion polymer (PMMA) latex was characterized through the determination of the size and morphology by scanning electron microscopy, the average molecular weight by GPC and viscosity methods and the sound velocity by ultrasonic interferometer. From the kinetic results, the rate of polymerization, R_p at 50 °C was expressed by

     

The topology of energy hypersurfaces II. Reaction topology in euclidean spaces

By introducing equivalence classes of critical points of potential energy hypersurfaces a unique topological space, Reaction Topology (^3N E, T _C ) is defined over an Euclidean nuclear configuration space ^3N E for a system of N nuclei and k electrons. Relations between the topological concepts of molecular structure and reaction mechanism are analyzed. Topological equivalences between Euclidean and Riemannian representations of nuclear configuration spaces are exploited for the analysis of quantum mechanical reaction networks of all possible chemical reactions over the given potential energy hypersurface.     

Thermodynamic properties of ethanol and water— III. Description of the different excess functions (gE,hE, cEP) using an empirical model

Published values of the thermodynamic excess functions (g^E, h^E, c^E_P) are used to fit the temperature-dependent parameters of an empirical g^E model. A modified Redlich-Kister approach with six concentration-dependent coefficients is chosen as a model equation for the excess Gibbs energy. The temperature dependence of the coefficients is defined in such a way that the result is a quadratic dependence of the molar excess heat capacity c^E_P as a function of the temperature. The fitting is carried out over the temperature range 25–150°C using the maximum likelihood method combined with the Gauss-Newton procedure (Anderson et al.). The h^E and c^E_P data, in particular, are clearly reproduced much better than when a fit based only on VLE data is used.     

A study of dissolution kinetics of a Nigerian galena ore in hydrochloric acid

The results of experimental investigation on the study of dissolution kinetics of a Nigerian galena ore in hydrochloric acid solution were discussed. The influence of acid concentration, temperature, particle size, stirring speed and solid/liquid ratio on the extent of dissolution was examined. The elemental analysis by XRF showed that the galena ore is composed mainly of PbS with metals such as Sn, Fe and Zn occurring as minor elements and Mn, Rb, Sr and Nb as traces. The XRD analysis indicated galena as the dominant mineral phase, with the presence of associated minerals, such as α-quartz (SiO₂), sphalerite (ZnS), cassiterite (SnO₂), pyrite (FeS₂) and manganese oxide (MnO₂).Results of leaching studies showed that galena dissolution in HCl solution increases with increasing acid concentration and temperature; while it decreases with particle diameter and solid/liquid ratio at a fixed stirring rate of 450 rpm. The study showed that 94.8% of galena was dissolved by 8.06 M HCl at 80 °C within 120 min with initial solid/liquid ratio of 10 g/L. The corresponding activation energy, E_a was calculated to be 38.74 kJ/mol. Other parameters such as reaction order, Arrhenius constants, reaction and dissociation constants were calculated to be 0.28, 73.69 s^?1, 1.73 ± 0.13 × 10³ and 1.37 ± 0.024 × 10⁴ mol L^?1 s^?1, respectively. The mechanism of dissolution of galena was established to follow the shrinking core model for the diffusion controlled mechanism with surface chemical reaction as the rate controlling step for the dissolution process. Finally, the XRD analysis of the post-leaching residue showed the presence of elemental sulphur, lead chloride and α-quartz.     

Thermal polymerization of acrylamide by differential scanning calorimetry

Thermal polymerization of acrylamide was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. Latent heat of fusion ΔH_f and enthalpy of polymerization ΔH_p values were found to be 36 and ?18.0 kcal mol^?1, respectively. The overall activation energy E for the polymerization was calculated to be 19 k cal mol^?1 up to 60% conversion. The added free-radical inhibitor (benzoquinone) was found to desensitize the thermal polymerization of acrylamide suggesting the polymerization to be a free-radical type. The existing rate equation for the heterogeneous bulk polymerization in the presence of initiators has been modified for the thermally initiated bulk polymerization of acrylamide. The experimental overall E value was found to agree well with the calculated E value when considering only the propagation and termination steps, thereby suggesting the process to be similar to postpolymerization of acrylamide.     

Correlation of the prigogine-flory theory with isothermal compressibility data. I. Systems with quasi-spherical molecules

The isothermal compressibilities K_T for cyclohexane + benzene, cyclohexane + toluene and benzene + toluene systems at 25, 35, 45 and 60°C have been used to test the Prigogine-Flory theory using Van der Waals and Lennard-Jones energy potentials. Flory's energy parameter X ₁₂ was calculated for these systems at the four temperatures. From X ₁₂ for the equimolar mixture, the following excess functions were calculated: (?V^E/?_p)_T which is related to K _T ^E , the heat of mixing H ^E , and the excess volume V ^E . The theory and any of the two potentials give (?V^E/?_p)_T which fit the experimental data, but H ^E and V ^E , calculated using the same X ₁₂ parameter, depart appreciably from the experimental data even though they agree in sign and have the essential features of the excess functions. The departure is apparent in both magnitude (in particular for the cyclohexane + benzene, and cyclohexane + toluene systems) and in the temperature dependence. The conclusion is that the X ₁₂ parameter does not predict the thermodynamic properties of these systems and the Lennard-Jones potential, involving a more complicated expression, does not contribute any improvement over the Van der Waals potential.     

Reactions of the HO2 radical with OH,H, Fe2+ and Cu2+ at elevated temperatures

The temperature dependence of the rate constant for the reactions of HO₂ with OH, H, Fe²⁺ and Cu²⁺ has been determined using pulse radiolysis technique. The following rate constants, k (dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹) at 20°C and activation energies, E_a (kJ mol⁻¹) have been found. The reaction with OH was studied in the temperature range 20–296°C (k=7.0×10⁹, E_a=7.4) and the reaction with H in the temperature range 5–149°C (k=8.5×10⁹, E_a=17.5). The reaction with Fe²⁺ was studied in the temperature range 16–118°C (k=7.9×10⁵, E_a=36.8) and the reaction with Cu²⁺ in the temperature range 17–211°C (k=1.1×10⁸, E_a=14.9).     

Selective hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds by rhodium trichloride and aliquat®-336 in a two-phase liquid system

The solvated ion pair [(C₈H₁₇)₃NCH₃]⁺[RhCl₄]⁻, formed from aqueous rhodium trichloride and Aliquat^®-336 in a two-phase liquid system, was shown to hydrogenate α,β-unsaturated ketones and esters selectively at the C-C double bonds. The reduction of benzylideneacetophenone was found to follow first-order kinetics in the substrate only below 0.2 M, and to approach second-order in H₂; at partial pressures of < 0.12 atm. The catalysis also proved to depend on the nature of the solvent, the phase transfer catalyst and the stirring rate. The observed activation energy E_a = 12.4 kcal mol⁻¹ suggests that the process is both chemically and diffusion controlled.     

Pyrolysis of polypropylene: II. Kinetics of degradation

The kinetic law dα/dr=k(1-α)[1-(1-α)^2b]^1,2 proposed for the pyrolysis of polystyrene is shown to be valid for the pyrolysis of polypropylene taking into account only the percentage of isotactic polymer.As the experimental activation energy of 265 kJ mol^?1 is of the same order of magnitude the as the theoretical energy calculated by the equation E = 1 2 (E_ir-E_r)-E_r it can be concluded that the decomposition mechanism is governed by a depolymerization reaction as the principal products obtained are compounds with 3n carbon atoms.