SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL ISOCOUMARIN-DERIVED POLYMER AND THE INVESTIGATION OF ITS THERMAL DECOMPOSITION KINETICS

Abstract

A novel isocoumarin-derived polymer, poly(2-(isocoumarin-3-yl)-2-oxoethyl methacrylate) (poly(ICEMA)), was synthesized by free radical polymerization. A spectral characterization was performed with FTIR, H-1 and C-13-NMR spectroscopies. The glass transition temperature of poly(ICEMA) was measured to be 161.69 degrees C by DSC. The initial decomposition temperatures obtained from TGA showed a change in the positive direction from 256.59 to 286.10 degrees C as the heating rate increased to 20 degrees C/min. The thermal decomposition activation energies of poly(ICEMA) in the conversion range of 7-19% were found to be 136.12 and 134.83 kJ/mol by the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa and Kissinger models, respectively. In addition, various integral models, such as the Coats-Redfern, Tang, Madhusudanan and Van Krevelen models, were used to determine the thermal decomposition mechanism of poly(ICEMA), which showed that it proceeded at the optimum heating rate of 5 degrees C/min over the D-1 one-dimensional diffusion-type deceleration mechanism.