Thermal degradation studies of some aliphatic polyamides using hyphenated techniques (TG-MS, TG-FTIR)

The thermal degradation of the aliphatic polyamides 6 and 66 was investigated by means of the combined techniques TA-MS and TA-FTIR. The analyses were performed in three different devices. Sample mass ranged from 13 mg to 1 g and heating rates of 2.6 and 10 K min(-1) were used in both air and nitrogen atmospheres. The most important decomposition products were caprolactam for PA 6 and cyclopentanone for PA 66. Evolution of NH3 and HCN was registered. The findings of the two hyphenated techniques led to the same results and complemented each other well. The evolved products were captured and analyzed off-line by GC/MS for further confirmation of results.