The Synthesis of Allyl Glycidyl Ether Copolymers and Their Thermokinetic Analysis

Abstract

Abstract The copolymerization reactions of allyl glycidyl ether (AGE) by radicalic polymerization under argon atmosphere using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) as an initiator with the comonomers of allyl methacrylate (AMA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were studied. The synthesized copolymers were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). FTIR and 1 H NMR spectra showed that the pendant epoxy groups in copolymers remained throughout the copolymerization of AGE. The apparent activation energies for thermal degradation of the copolymers were calculated from their TG data by using Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO), Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and Coats-Redfern methods. The kinetic parameters such as pre-exponential factor, Gibbs energy, enthalpy and entropy were also calculated by Coats-Redfern method. The activation energies calculated by KAS method for Poly(AGE -co- AMA) and Poly(AGE -co- MMA) were found to be 292±10 kJ/mol and 175±27 kJ/mol for the first stage, and 252±74 kJ/mol and 232±32 kJ/mol for the second, respectively while they were 361±1 kJ/mol and 249±61 kJ/mol for Poly(AGE -co- AMA) and 136±24 kJ/mol and 278±18 kJ/mol for Poly(AGE -co- MMA) by FWO method. The most likely mechanisms of the main degradation stages were determined as F 3 model for Poly(AGE -co- AMA) and Poly(AGE -co- MMA). Thus, it is concluded that the thermal degradations of Poly(AGE -co- AMA) and Poly(AGE -co- MMA) copolymers exhibit similar behavior. Keywords: Thermal degradation, allyl glycidyl ether, allyl methacrylate, methyl methacrylate