Some aspects of the ozone degradation of poly(vinyl alcohol)

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVAL) forms a strong hydrogen-bond complex with ozone. The interaction energy is of the order of 47.3 kJ/mol as calculated from the blue shift undergone by the ozone absorption band in the UV after its complexation with PVAL. This fact may have many important practical implications in the application of PVAL in wastewater treatment both in terms of O-3 dissolution and persistence in water. Furthermore, PVAL is easily biodegradable but it is also slowly degraded by ozone. It is shown by viscometry, electrical conductimetry and by pH measurements that PVAL is degraded by ozone attack with extensive chain breaking. By FT-IR spectroscopy it has been shown that the final product is a PVAL oligomer with numerous ketonic groups along the main oligomer backbone and with carboxylic end groups. A mechanism of ozone degradation of PVAL has been presented and discussed. The chain scission is based on the ozone oxidation of the alcoholic groups of PVAL with formation of ketonic groups which in turn are the source of a keto-enol tautomerism which leads to random chain scission by further O-3 attack. Viscometric measurements show that the main viscosity drop of PVAL is achieved when a nominal stoichiometric ratio of O-3/PVAL < 0.05 is reached which means one ozone molecule for every > 20 PVAL monomeric units. For comparison PVAL has been oxidized also with paraperiodic acid. Ozonized PVAL has been studied by thermal analysis (TGA, DTG and DTA) in comparison to a reference untreated PVAL under N-2. The oxidation of PVAL causes its complete amorphization since the crystalline melting point of PVAL at 235 degrees C is no longer detectable in the case of ozonized PVAL. In any case ozonized PVAL shows a better thermal stability which can be confirmed for instance by a higher maximum decomposition rate temperature as measured by DTG. This result is in agreement with theoretical calculations made by group increments according to Van Krevelen's method which predicts a higher decomposition temperature for a PVAL having ketonic groups in place of alcoholic moieties in the main polymer backbone. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.