Effect of the catalyst MCM-41 on the kinetic of the thermal decomposition of poly(ethylene terephthalate)

• Published in: Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry Vol. 99; no. 2; pp. 465 - 469
• Main Authors: Araújo, Sulene A., Araujo, Antonio S., Fernandes, Nedja S., Fernandes, Valter J., Ionashiro, Massao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-02-2010; Springer
• Subjects: Activation energy; Analysis; Analytical Chemistry; Applied sciences; Calorimetry; Catalysts; Chemical reactions and properties; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Degradation; Ethylene; Exact sciences and technology; Inorganic Chemistry; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Organic polymers; Physical Chemistry; Physicochemistry of polymers; Polyethylene terephthalates; Polymer Sciences; Polymers; Reaction kinetics; Thermal decomposition; Thermal degradation; Thermogravimetry; Toy industry; MCM-41; Flynn–Wall kinetic model; Thermogravimetry; Poly(ethylene terephthalate); Ethylene terephthalate polymer; Scanning electron microscopy; Pyrolysis; X ray diffraction; Porous material; Mesoporosity; Molecular sieve; Surface structure; Heterogeneous catalysis; Kinetic model; Flynn―Wall kinetic model; Morphology; Surface properties; Thermal analysis; Kinetics; Surface area; Catalyst; Thermal degradation
• ISSN: 1388-6150; 1588-2926; 1572-8943
• DOI: 10.1007/s10973-009-0490-9

The aim of this work is to determine the activation energy for the thermal decomposition of poly(ethylene terephthalate)—PET, in the presence of a MCM-41 mesoporous catalyst. This material was synthesized by the hydrothermal method, using cetyltrimethylammonium as template. The PET sample has been submitted to thermal degradation alone and in presence of MCM-41 catalyst at a concentration of 25% in mass (MCM-41/PET). The degradation process was evaluated by thermogravimetry, at temperature range from 350 to 500 °C, under nitrogen atmosphere, with heating rates of 5, 10 and 25 °C min
−1
. From TG, the activation energy, determined using the Flynn–Wall kinetic method, decreased from 231 kJ mol
−1
, for the pure polymer (PET), to 195 kJ mol
−1
, in the presence of the material (MCM-41/PET), showing the catalyst efficiency for the polymer decomposition process.