Thermogravimetric study of polymer catalytic degradation over microporous materials

The apparent activation energy of the overall process of polymer catalytic cracking over zeolites, commercial cracking catalysts, clays and pillared clays was estimated using thermogravimetric analysis. The activation energy of polymer cracking over ultrastable Y zeolite showed the lowest value due to the strongest acidity of this zeolite. Commercial cracking catalysts showed considerably higher activation energy than their parent ultrastable Y zeolite as they contained only 20% and 40% of the active zeolite. Over clays and pillared clays, polymer degradation showed even higher apparent activation energy values due to their weak acidity. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.