Thermal decomposition kinetics of natural fibers: Activation energy with dynamic thermogravimetric analysis

Dynamic TG analysis under nitrogen was used to investigate the thermal decomposition processes of 10 types of natural fibers commonly used in the polymer composite industry. These fibers included wood, bamboo, agricultural residue, and bast fibers. Various degradation models including the Kissinger, Friedman, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa, and modified Coats-Redfern methods were used to determine the apparent activation energy of these fibers. For most natural fibers approximately 60% of the thermal decomposition occurred within a temperature range between 215 and 310 °C. The result also showed that an apparent activation energy of 160-170 kJ/mol was obtained for most of the selected fibers throughout the polymer processing temperature range. These activation energy values allow developing a simplified approach to understand the thermal decomposition behavior of natural fibers as a function of polymer composite processing.