Thermal Decomposition Kinetics and Mechanism of In-Situ Prepared Bio-based Poly(propylene 2,5-furan dicarboxylate)/Graphene Nanocomposites

Zoi Terzopoulou; Evangelia Tarani; Nejib Kasmi; Lazaros Papadopoulos; Konstantinos Chrissafis; Dimitrios G Papageorgiou; George Z Papageorgiou; Dimitrios N Bikiaris

doi:10.3390/molecules24091717

Thermal Decomposition Kinetics and Mechanism of In-Situ Prepared Bio-based Poly(propylene 2,5-furan dicarboxylate)/Graphene Nanocomposites

Molecules. 2019 May 2;24(9):1717. doi: 10.3390/molecules24091717.

Authors

Zoi Terzopoulou¹, Evangelia Tarani², Nejib Kasmi³, Lazaros Papadopoulos⁴, Konstantinos Chrissafis⁵, Dimitrios G Papageorgiou⁶, George Z Papageorgiou⁷, Dimitrios N Bikiaris⁸

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. terzoe@gmail.com.
² Solid State Physics Department, School of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. etarani@physics.auth.gr.
³ Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. nejibkasmi@gmail.com.
⁴ Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. lazaros.geo.papadopoulos@gmail.com.
⁵ Solid State Physics Department, School of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. hrisafis@physics.auth.gr.
⁶ School of Materials and National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. dimitrios.papageorgiou@manchester.ac.uk.
⁷ Chemistry Department, University of Ioannina, P.O. Box 1186, 45110 Ioannina, Greece. gzpap@uoi.gr.
⁸ Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry and Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. dbic@chem.auth.gr.

Abstract

Bio-based polyesters are a new class of materials that are expected to replace their fossil-based homologues in the near future. In this work, poly(propylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) (PPF) nanocomposites with graphene nanoplatelets were prepared via the in-situ melt polycondensation method. The chemical structure of the resulting polymers was confirmed by ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. Thermal stability, decomposition kinetics and the decomposition mechanism of the PPF nanocomposites were studied in detail. According to thermogravimetric analysis results, graphene nanoplatelets did nοt affect the thermal stability of PPF at levels of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.5 wt.%, but caused a slight increase in the activation energy values. Pyrolysis combined with gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy revealed that the decomposition mechanism of the polymer was not altered by the presence of graphene nanoplatelets but the extent of secondary homolytic degradation reactions was increased.

Keywords: bio-based polymers; decomposition mechanism; graphene nanoplatelets; nanocomposites; poly(propylene 2,5 furandicarboxylate); thermal stability.

MeSH terms

Alkenes / chemistry*
Graphite / chemistry*
Kinetics
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Nanocomposites / chemistry*
Polymers / chemical synthesis
Polymers / chemistry*
Thermodynamics

Substances

Alkenes
Polymers
Graphite
propylene