Thermal Degradation of Kinetics of PET, PTT and PBT Hybrid Nanocomposites

Poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET), Poly (trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT) and Poly (butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and its hybrid nanocomposites containing graphene oxide (GO) and functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNT) were prepared by melt blending. Both pristine polyesters and the hybrid nanocomposites were studied for thermal degradation kinetics using thermogravimetric analyzer. The nanocomposites were studied from the temperature range of 100 to 800 °C at a heating rate of 10 °C/min in a nitrogen atmosphere. Activation energy (Ea) and pre-exponential or frequency factor (A) were determined for the thermal degradation of these nanocomposites using the Coats–Redfern equation and was found to follow first-order kinetics in nitrogen atmosphere. The effect of nanofiller content on the parameters of thermal degradation kinetics was discussed.