A model for thermal degradation of hybrid nanocomposites

A model is developed for thermal degradation of polymer nanocomposites. A composite is thought of as an equivalent network of linear chains with attached side-groups. Thermal degradation is treated as combination of (i) binary scission (fragmentation) of backbone chains, and (ii) detachment of side-groups and their subsequent annihilation (diffusion to the surface of a sample and desorption). An explicit solution is derived for the kinetic equation. This solution involves three adjustable parameters that are found by fitting observations on isotactic polypropylene reinforced with carbon nanofibres. Good agreement is demonstrated between the experimental data and the results of numerical simulation.