Thermal decomposition study of poly(methyl methacrylate)/carbon nanofiller composites

This work compares the thermal degradation kinetics of neat atactic poly(methyl methacrylate) (a‐PMMA), and its composites with fullerene C60 and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNT) as revealed by thermal desorption mass‐spectrometry (TDMS), and thermal gravimetry analysis (TGA). TDMS suggests the decrease of thermal stability of PMMA‐C60 composite compared to neat PMMA. This result is supported by the increased rate of defect formation in the composite as revealed by the electronic paramagnetic resonance, EPR, technique. On the other hand, TGA shows an increase of thermal degradation temperatures for composite compared to those of neat a‐PMMA. The discrepancies between TDMS and TGA data are discussed taking into account the difference of the experimental conditions of the two approaches, i.e. the size of the sample. The parameters which need to be thoroughly controlled in thermal degradation kinetic studies are outlined. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.