Thermogravimetric studies on the condensation kinetics of fully aromatic polyesters

The kinetics of the polycondensation of a fully arom. polyester was studied. The mass-loss curves examd. with a thermogravimetric balance were analyzed on the basis of a kinetic model. Under the exptl. conditions used the polycondensation of 4-acetoxybenzoic acid (ABA) can be supposed to be irreversible and of 2nd order. The model takes into account the simultaneous evapn. of the monomer and the formed low mol. volatile product (acetic acid). The reaction temp. was varied in the range of 194 to 294 DegC. Different catalysts such as Fe-, Na-, and K-acetate were used to accelerate the polycondensation reaction. The height of the sample layer has an important influence on the global kinetics. The model parameters were estd. by a non-linear curve fitting with a com. available program. [on SciFinder (R)]