Comparative thermoanalytical studies of polyurethanes using Coats-Redfern, Broido and Horowitz-Metzger methods

Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) is a technique widely used because of its simplicity and the information afforded from a simple thermogram. The accurate determination of kinetic parameters from thermo gravimetric data for polyurethane material would be useful in designing the environmental history of polymer devices and its effect on material properties. Twenty four polyurethane sheets have been prepared using cardanol-furfural resins with two diisocyanates, diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI)/toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and their thermal stabilities have been measured by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The kinetic parameters such as energy of activation and regression value in the study of the polyurethane decomposition have been determined by exploiting thermo gravimetric (TG) data. The energy of activation for different stages of polyurethane degradation is determined by Coats-Redfern integration method which involves fourteen different kinetic models. Energy of activation has also been calculated using the well known Broido and Horowitz-Metzger approximation methods and are compared with the results obtained from Coats-Redfern method

Author(s): S. Gopalakrishnan and R. Sujatha

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