Non-isothermal degradation kinetics of MMA-St copolymer and EPS lost foams

Abstract: Methylmethacrylate-styrene (MMA-St) random copolymer was synthesized by suspension copolymerization. The thermal degradation of MMA-St copolymer and EPS lost foams was studied by non-isothermal thermal gravimetric analysis under nitrogen purge. Thermal decomposition behavior of MMA-St copolymer lost foam was examined and compared with EPS. It was found that EPS foam starts to decompose at higher temperatures than MMA-St copolymer foam in all heating rates. The apparent activation energy was calculated by the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method. It has been concluded that the model fitting methods unable to reveal the complexity of the pyrolysis process and the model-free methods can be suggested as a reliable way of determining the kinetic parameters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]