Comparative study of the thermal analyses of some transition metal(II) propionates. Part I

Abstract

The thermal decomposition of the propionates of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) has been studied using non-isothermal techniques (DTG, DTA and TG). The final thermolysis products in all these compounds are the corresponding metal oxides as confirmed by chemical analysis and X-ray powder diffraction method. The TG data for dehydration were computerised to test the various decomposition models: the Erofeev-Avrami equation, i.e. [−1n(1-α)] r with r = 1 3 for a nucleation-and-growth-controlled mechanism, has been found to be the most suitable. Comparison of the T i values led to the stability orders: Zn > Co > Cu > Ni and Zn > Co > Ni > Cu, for dehydration and decomposition processes, respectively.