Effect of nanoclays on high and low temperature degradation of fluoroelastomers

High temperature degradation of a fluoroelastomer and its nanocomposites was carried out from room temperature to 700 °C using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in nitrogen and oxygen atmospheres. The presence of the unmodified nanoclay enhanced the onset of degradation in both the environments, because of polymer-filler interaction, exfoliation, uniform dispersion and high thermal stability of the layered silicates. In the derivative curve, there was a single T_max, indicating one-stage degradation for all the samples. The non-isothermal activation energy of degradation was determined using the Kissinger and the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa methods. The nanocomposites showed higher activation energy than the neat elastomer. The activation energy of degradation, as observed by isothermal kinetics, was 165, 168 and 177 kJ mol⁻¹ for the neat elastomer, modified and unmodified clay filled samples, respectively. Intrinsic viscosity, measured after low temperature ageing (125-175 °C) showed that the viscosity values were higher for the nanocomposites. The mechanism of degradation is discussed.