Sm. Lomakin et al., AN INVESTIGATION OF THE THERMAL-STABILITY AND CHAR-FORMING TENDENCY OF CROSS-LINKED POLY(METHYL METHACRYLATE), Polymer degradation and stability, 41(2), 1993, pp. 229-243
The thermal degradation of two network copolymers of methyl methacryla
te was studied as a function of the chemical nature of the cross-linki
ng agent and the frequency of cross-links. Unlike the linear homopolym
er, both the trimethylolpropane triacrlylate and trimethylolpropane tr
imethacrylate networks were found to char when burned. The correspondi
ng derivative thermograms indicate that there are dramatic differences
in the thermal degradation of these polymers even in the absence of o
xygen. These differences are interpreted in terms of a simple model fo
r the kinetics of depolymerization.