The effect of the oxidant used during polymerization on the solid-state decomposition kinetics of poly(4-methyl catechol)

Abstract

Herein, the oxidative polymerization of 4-methyl catechol using different oxidants including NaOCl, H2O2, and air were reported. Potassium hydroxide solution was used as the reaction solvent and polymerization studies were carried out between 323 and 363 K. Optimum reaction conditions of the polymerization were established and NaOCl was found as the most active oxidant. The structure and characterization of the polymer using FT-IR, ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis), 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, thermogravimetry and size exclusion chromatography were confirmed. In addition, the relationship between molar mass distribution of polymer and kinetics parameters such as activation energy, pre-exponential factor of decomposition process was investigated. For this purpose, methods based on multiple heating rates such as Flynn–Wall–Ozawa, Friedman, Tang, Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose, and Kissinger were used. The results obtained show that activation energy increased with an increase of molar mass.