Thermal stability and degradation mechanism of C₆₀ fullerene‐based polymers

Abstract

In this paper, the thermal stability and degradation mechanisms of C60 fullerene‐based polymers, obtained by click polymerization between dialkyne‐substituted C60 derivative monomers and 1,3,5‐tris(dodecyloxy)benzene‐based diazide comonomers, were evaluated. The activation energy of the fullerene polymer C60P2 with an ethylene spacer, determined under peak degradation rate conditions, was lower than that of the counter polymer C60P1 with a methylene spacer, suggesting lower thermal stability of C60P2. The combined technique of thermogravimetric analysis—mass spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the thermal decomposition onset of the analyzed samples is accompanied by CC cleavage of the dodecyloxyside chain groups, followed by the decomposition of the 1,2,3‐triazole, dicarboxylate and benzoate moieties. It was found that no thermal decomposition of the fullerene carbon cage occurs up to 670°C. Molecular modeling with Hyperchem software version 7.5 confirmed that C60P1 is more thermally stable than C60P2.