Mechanism and kinetics of the stabilization reactions of itaconic acid-modified polyacrylonitrile

The structural evolution and thermal behavior of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) homopolymer and copolymer [P(AN-IA)] containing about 1.5 mol% itaconic acid (IA) during stabilization in air were studied by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TG). A new parameter E-s = A(1595cm-1)/A(2243cm-1) was defined to evaluate the extent of stabilization. The kinetic parameters, viz. activation energy (E-a) and pre-exponential factor (A) of the stabilization reactions were calculated by Kissinger method and Ozawa method. FTIR analysis indicated that the cyclization of nitrile groups was initiated at a lower temperature by the IA comonomer and the stabilization proceeded at a more moderate pace in P(AN-IA) than in PAN, while an IA additive was found to be decomposed and failed to initiate the cyclization at a lower temperature. The improvement effect of IA comonomer on the stabilization reactions was further confirmed by the dynamic thermal analysis and kinetic study. Crown Copyright (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.