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The thermal degradation mechanism and kinetic analysis of hydrogenated bisphenol-A polycarbonate

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Abstract

Hydrogenated bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PHBPA) was successfully synthesized from dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and hydrogenated bisphenol-A (HBPA) by the method of two-step polycondensation. The chemical structure and the molecular weight of PHBPA was identified by 1H-NMR spectra and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), respectively. In order to analyze the thermal degradation mechanism of PHBPA, a non-isothermal pyrolysis process was conducted and the violate products were detected using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). There were some reactions occurred during the pyrolysis including decarboxylation, disproportionation of the C–H transfer and β–H transfer, and the Fries rearrangement. In addition, the well-known Flynne–Walle–Ozawa (FWO) and Coats–Redfern kinetic analysis methods were used to calculate the values of activation energy and pre-exponential factors. Furthermore, isothermal pyrolysis experiments were performed and revealed that the reaction of decarboxylation occurred at 225 °C. This decarboxylation suggests that the molecular chain of PHBPA does not easily grow to a high-molecular-weight polymer.

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Acknowledgements

The financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China (MOST 109-3116-F-006-015-CC1 and MOST 108-2221-E-006-001-) is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the use of Bruker Avance 600NMR Spectrometer equipment belonging to the Instrument Center of National Cheng Kung University, and the use of TGA-GC/MS equipment belonging to the Instrument Center of National Tsing Hua University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 70101, Tainan, Taiwan

    Yuan-Hsiang Wu & Chuh-Yung Chen

  2. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, 71005, Tainan, Taiwan

    Cheng-Chien Wang

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  1. Yuan-Hsiang Wu
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Correspondence to Chuh-Yung Chen.

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Wu, YH., Wang, CC. & Chen, CY. The thermal degradation mechanism and kinetic analysis of hydrogenated bisphenol-A polycarbonate. J Polym Res 27, 246 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-020-02204-3

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