Journal
POLYMER DEGRADATION AND STABILITY
Volume 93, Issue 8, Pages 1440-1449Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2008.05.018
Keywords
photocatalytic degradation; copolymers; rate coefficients; combustion synthesized TiO2+
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Funding
- Department of Science and Technology
- Swarnajayanthi fellowship
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The photolytic and photocatalytic degradation of the copolymers poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl methacrylate) (MMA-BMA), poly(methyl methacrylate-co-ethyl acrylate) (MMA-EA) and poly(methyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (MMA-MAA) have been carried out in solution in the presence of solution combustion synthesized TiO2 (CS TiO2) and commercial Degussa P-25 TiO2 (DP 25). The degradation rates of the copolymers were compared with the respective homopolymers. The copolymers and the homopolymers degraded randomly along the chain. The degradation rate was determined using continuous distribution kinetics. For all the polymers, CS TiO2 exhibited superior photo-activity compared to the uncatalysed and DP 25 systems, owing to its high surface hydroxyl content and high specific surface area. The time evolution of the hydroxyl and hydroperoxide stretching vibration in the Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectra of the copolymers indicated that the degradation rate follows the order MMA-MAA > MMA-EA > MMA-BMA. The same order is observed for the rate coefficients of photocatalytic degradation. The photodegradation rate coefficients were compared with the activation energy of pyrolytic degradation. In degradation by pyrolysis, it was observed that MMA-BMA was the least stable followed by MMA-EA and MMA-MAA. The observed contrast in the order of thermal stability compared to the photo-stability of these copolymers was attributed to the two different mechanisms governing the scission of the polymer and the evolution of the products.
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