A kinetic study of the thermal decomposition of poly(aryl‐ether‐ether‐ketone) (PEEK) in nitrogen

The kinetic parameters of the thermal decomposition of poly(aryl-ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) in a nitrogen atmosphere have been obtained using an isothermal weight-loss method. Several mathematical approaches have been used to obtain the Arrhenius parameters based upon the use of different reaction models. The values obtained for the activation energy (E = 198.4 to 219.7 kJ/mol) and preexponential factor (log A = 11.1 to 12.3 min−1) fall within a narrow range, irrespective of the method of calculation. Although the kinetic data most closely fits an Avrami two-dimensional nucleating model, the data can be just as easily described by a first-order rate law.