DYNAMIC METHODS FOR THE KINETIC ANALYSIS OF THE THERMAL DEGRADATION OF POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE

A kinetic study has been carried out on the thermal degradation of polytetrafluoroethylene. The thermaldegradation analysis has been done using a thermo gravimetric balance from 25°C to 950°C in nitrogen gasat different heating rates, viz. 10, 20, 30 and 50 °C min^-1. The maximum rate of degradation increased from 16.6 to 38.5 % weight loss min-1 as the heating rate increased from 10 to 30 °C min^-1 and remainedconstant thereafter. The TGA plots showed that 92% to 97% of the sample decomposed between 460°Cand 680°C. Integral and differential methods were used for the determination of the kinetic parameters.The differential method of Achar was found the most suitable amongst the four methods used, for the determination of the kinetic triplet.