Dyes and pigments are additives used in polymer systems to change the original coloration of the material. However, the thermal and photochemical stability of the polymer is frequently affected with the incorporation of these additives. The aim of this work was to study the influence of different colorant types (bismuth vanadate pigment, condensation diazo pigment, Cu-phthalocyanine dye and anthraquinone dye) on the thermo-oxidative stability of polycarbonate. Dynamic thermogravimetric analysis at different heating rate were carried out to evaluate the decomposition behavior of the material and to calculate the activation energy related to the decomposition process according to the FLYNN and WALL method. The curves of conversion rate showed that the polycarbonate with or without colorants present three steps of thermal decomposition, however the decomposition rate in theses steps for polycarbonate containing colorants is almost always higher than in polycarbonate without colorants. This indicates that the colorants accelerate the polycarbonate decomposition. On the other hand, the activation energy did not present the same behavior found to curves of conversion rate, suggesting that the decomposition reaction of polycarbonate does not follow a first order kinetic such as is based the FLYNN and WALL method.
polycarbonate; thermal decomposition; colorants; activation energy
