Abstract

The thermal stabilities of metal poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) has been studied by thermogravimetry (TG) between 278 K and 823 K under nitrogen flow. The kinetic data thus obtained indicate that the thermostabilities decrease in the order: Sn-STAN > Ga-STAN > Ag-STAN > Sb-STAN > Cu-STAN > Pd-STAN > Fe-STAN > Au-STAN > Bi-STAN for high Molecular Weight (HMW) and Ag-STAN > Pd-STAN > Fe-STAN > Ga-STAN > Cu-STAN > Sb-STAN > Sn-STAN > Bi-STAN > Au-STAN for low Molecular Weight (LMW) copolymers. The thermal stability seems to be dependable on the nature of the bond established between the copolymer and the metal. Cu-copolymer exhibits the lowest Ea most probably due to their oxidation potential. On the other hand, Ag-copolymer has the highest Ea and similar to the copolymer (fraction 1). The thermal decomposition temperatures were obtained from the DTG curves. The reaction order for the thermal decomposition of these copolymers is zero. In other words, we are dealing with a single step decomposition mechanism. The pre-exponential factor, the reaction order, the decomposition temperature and the activation energy of the decomposition for metal poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) have been determined.