The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact that the content of the co-3-hydroxyvalerate monomer has on thermal degradation kinetics of P3(HB-x%HV) copolymers. Films of the copolymers with different contents of 3-hydroxyvalerate were obtained by controlled evaporation of solvent from chloroform solution (1% m/m). Thermogravimetry study was carried out in helium atmosphere, platinum pans and sample mass about 10 ± 0.3 mg. The thermal degradation kinetic study was made on isothermal conditions and non-isothermal conditions. For the two conditions of analysis, it was observed that the copolyester studied presented a defined stage of degradation in a short time interval. The analysis of thermal degradation kinetics carried out by the isoconversional methods of Friedman and Ozawa-Flynn-Wall showed that the activation energy for the process of thermal degradation is dependent on the fraction of mass conversion. Such dependence may be related to the occurrence of cleavage of covalent bonds with different bonding energies. Other characteristic could be the structural differences caused by co-monomers 3HB and 3HV. The results obtained indicate the need to control the distribution of 3HV units to improve the thermal stability of the polyesters. Improving the thermal stability, and thus the processability of these copolymers from melt, increases the possibilities of using these environmentally friendly polyesters.
Poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates); thermal degradation kinetic; thermal characterization
