Abstract :
The isothermal decomposition of potassium metaperiodate (KIO4) has been studied as a function of concentration of the dopants chloride, sulphate and barium, by thermogravimetry (TG) in the temperature range 560–580 K. The decomposition data for both pure and doped KIO4 were found to be best described by the Prout–Tompkins (PT) equation. As the dopant concentration increases, the rate of decomposition remains unaffected with chloride, increases approximately linearly with sulphate and passes through a maximum with barium. However, doping did not change the activation energy of the reaction. The results favour an electron-transfer mechanism for the decomposition.