Kinetic analysis of the non-isothermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(ethylene oxide) blends

Kinetic analysis of the non-isothermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PVC/PEO) blends was performed using isoconversional Friedman method in combination with the multivariate nonlinear regression method. The dependencies of E on alpha have been evaluated at whole conversion range, and it was concluded that E depends on alpha for all investigated samples, which indicated the complex degradation mechanism. The kinetic analysis indicated four-stage degradation mechanism, except for PVC sample which showed five-stage degradation mechanism. As the PEO content increased in the investigated samples, the probable mechanism changed from the reaction of nth order with autocatalysis (Cn) to the Avrami-Erofeev reaction type (An).