Thermal Properties Of Chitin Whiskers Reinforced PolyAcrylic Acid

ABSTRACT Thermal analysisTGA of samples of Chitin PAA and Chitin-PAA complexes containing different weight fractions of chitin whiskers were investigated. The activation energies Ea and other kinematic parameters 26916S 26916H and 26916G for the filler matrix and blend were calculated using the Coats and Redfern Broido and Horowitz and Metzger methods at the second and third stages of decomposition. The study showed that the kinetic parameters for the composites lie between the matrix and the filler. .At each filler loading level the activation energies changes in enthalpies entropies and Gibbs functions obtained using all three methods are comparable for the second region of decomposition. The pattern is such that the value of these energy parameters gradually decreased as filler loading decreases. The gradual increase in activation energy as filler increases is attributed to even dispersion of the whiskers and interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the chitin whiskers.