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ABSTRACT:Integral isoconversional methods may give rise to noticeable systematic error in the activation energy when the latter strongly varies with the extent of conversion. This error is eliminated by using an integration technique that properly accounts for the variation in the activation energy. The technique is implemented as a modification of the earlier proposed advanced isoconversional method [Vyazovkin, S. J Comput Chem 1997, 18, 393]. The applications of the modified method are illustrated by simulations as well as by processing of data on the thermal decomposition of calcium oxalate monohydrate and ammonium nitrate.

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Summary: Isoconversional kinetic analysis involves evaluating a dependence of the effective activation energy on conversion or temperature and using this dependence for making kinetic predictions and for exploring the mechanisms of thermally stimulated processes. The paper discusses major results obtained by the authors in the area of the isoconversional analysis of polymer kinetics over the past decade. It provides a brief introduction to isoconversional methods and surveys the impact made by isoconversional analysis in several application areas that include kinetic predictions, thermal degradation, crosslinking (curing), glass transition, and glass and melt crystallization. It is concluded that isoconversional analysis has been used broadly and fruitfully because it presents a fortunate compromise between the single‐step Arrhenius kinetic treatments and the prevalent occurrence of processes whose kinetics are multi‐step and/or non‐Arrhenius.

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▪ Abstract  The kinetics of solid state reactions generally cannot be assumed to follow simple rate laws that are applicable to gas-phase reactions. Nevertheless, a widely practiced method for extracting Arrhenius parameters from thermal analysis experiments involves force fitting of experimental data to simple reaction-order kinetic models. This method can produce significant errors in predicted rates outside the experimental range of temperatures, and it is of limited utility for drawing mechanistic conclusions about reactions. In this review, we discuss how an alternative “model-free” approach to kinetic analysis, which is based on the isoconversional method, can overcome some of these limitations.

The thermal degradations of polystyrene (PS), polyethylene (PE), and poly(propylene) (PP) have been studied in both inert nitrogen and air atmospheres by using thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. The model‐free isoconversional method has been employed to calculate activation energies as a function of the extent of degradation. The obtained dependencies are interpreted in terms of degradation mechanisms. Under nitrogen, the thermal degradation of polymers follows a random scission pathway that has an activation energy ≈200 kJ·mol–1 for PS and 240 and 250 kJ·mol–1 for PE and PP, respectively. Lower values (≈150 kJ·mol–1) are observed for the initial stages of the thermal degradation of PE and PS; this suggests that degradation is initiated at weak links. In air, the thermoxidative degradation occurs via a pathway that involves decomposition of polymer peroxide and exhibits an activation energy of 125 kJ·mol–1 for PS and 80 and 90 kJ·mol–1, for PE and PP respectively.

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