Resin II: Thermal degradation studies of terpolymer resins derived from 2,2′‐dihydroxybiphenyl, urea, and formaldehyde

Abstract

AbstractThe terpolymer resins have been synthesized by the condensation of 2,2′‐dihydroxybiphenyl with urea and formaldehyde in the presence of 2M HCl as a catalyst and with varying molar proportions of reactants. Elemental analysis, IR, NMR and UV–Visible spectral study, and TGA–DTA analysis characterized the resins. The number average molecular weight was determined by nonaqueous conductometric titrations. Thermal studies of the resins have been carried out to determine their mode of decomposition, activation energy, order of reaction, frequency factor, entropy change, free energy, and apparent entropy change. Freeman–Carroll and Sharp–Wentworth methods have been applied for the calculation of kinetic parameters, while the data from Freeman–Carroll method have been used to determine various thermodynamic parameters. The order of thermal stabilities of terpolymers has been determined using TGA. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 227–232, 2006