G. Madras et S. Chattopadhyay, Effect of hydrogen donor on the thermal degradation of poly(vinyl acetate)in solution, J APPL POLY, 81(8), 2001, pp. 1996-2000
The thermal. decomposition of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc) in solution was in
vestigated both in the presence and absence of a hydrogen donor (H-donor).
Thermal degradation experiments at 220-250 degreesC were conducted in a bat
ch reactor by dissolving PVAc in diphenylether. The molecular weight distri
butions were measured as a function of reaction time. Experimental data ind
icated that the polymer degrades by random chain scission. The random sciss
ion degradation rate coefficient was between 9.01 x 10(-4) and 6.12 x 10(-3
) min(-1). The activation energy, determined from the temperature dependenc
e of the rate coefficient, was 31.5 kcal/mol. The effect of an H-donor, dip
henylamine, was also investigated by varying the concentration from 0 to 0.
472 mol/L. The data indicated that the presence of diphenylamine increases
the PVAc degradation rate from 3.67 x 10(-3) to 4.59 x 10(-3) min(-1) at 24
0 degreesC. This is in contrast to the reduction in the degradation rate of
polystyrene in the presence of diphenylamine. Continuous distribution mode
ls have been developed by treating molecular weight as a continuous variabl
e. The experimentally observed variation of the degradation rates with H-do
nor concentration is satisfactorily explained by a continuous distribution
model based on the radical mechanism that involves the elementary reactions
including the hydrogen abstraction steps. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.