Synthesis, characterization and behavior of thermal degradation kinetics of copolymer-III derived from p-nitrophenol, 4,4' -methylene dianiline and formaldehyde

Department of Chemistry, Laxminarayan Institute of Technology,

Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur-440 010, Maharashtra, India

E-mail : ab_zade l8@yahoo.com; pawan _ kl9@yahoo.com

Department of Chemistry, Nagpur Institute of Technology, Katol Road, Mahurzari, Nagpur-441 501, Maharashtra, India

Manuscript received online 12 April 2012, revised 11 June 2012, accepted 19 June 2012

Copolymer resin (p-NP-4,4' -MDA-F-III) has been synthesized by using the monomers i.e. p-nitrophenol and 4,4' -methylene dianiline using the linkage of formaldehyde in 4 : 1 : 5 molar proportion by condensation polymerization reaction in presence of acid catalyst. The structure of newly synthesized copolymer has been elaborated and confirmed on the basis of elemental analysis and various spectral techniques i.e. UV-Visible, FT-IR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy. Thermal analysis was carried out for studying the thermal degradation behavior and kinetics of synthesized copolymer which shows three decomposition steps. Thermal degradation curve has been discussed with minute details for each decomposition step by applying Friedman, Chang, Sharp-Wentworth, Freeman-Carroll and Coat-Redfern equations to evaluate the kinetic parameters such as activation energy (E₂), order of reaction (n) and frequency factor (z).