THERMAL STUDIES OF METAL POLY(VINYL ACETATES) .9.

Metal poly(vinyl acetates) polymers were obtained by radical polymerization with azodiisobutyronitrile. The thermal stabilities of the metal polymers (M-PVAC) have been studied by thermogravimetry (TG) between 25 and 550-degrees-C under nitrogen flow. The decomposition temperature was obtained from the maximum of the first derivative from TG curve. The kinetic parameters of the thermal decomposition were determined by the Arrhenius equation. All these polymers degrade mainly in a single step with a very small second step, probably via a complex reaction. The kinetic data thus obtained show that the thermostabilities decrease in the order: Sb-PVA(c) approximately Ge-PVA(c) > Bi-PVA(c) approximately Cd-PCA(c) > Ag-PVA(c) approximately PVA(c) > Zn-PVA(c) > Au-PVA(c) > In-PVA(c) > Sn-PVA(c) > Ga-PVA(c) > Pd-PVA(c). Again, the thermal stability is dependent upon the metal incorporated in the backbone polymer. They loose weight after 320-degrees-C. The order of reaction from the thermal decomposition of these metal polymers was found to be -0.5 for the first step and 0 for the second. The pre-exponential factor, the reaction order and the activation energy of the decomposition for metal (PVA(c)) have been determined in most of them.