The effect of preparation methods on the thermal properties of poly(acrylic acid) / alumina composites

Abstract Poly(acrylic acid) ‐ alumina composites have been prepared by two different methods and thermally characterized. The glass transition temperatures ( T _g ) of the PAA/Al ₂ O ₃ systems prepared by mixture and polymerization method were found to be 126°C and 130°C, respectively, irrespective of the alumina amounts involved in this work. The composites prepared by mixture and polymerization method have been investigated by using thermogravimetry (TGA) to follow the kinetics of anhyride formation and thermal degradation reactions. The activation energy of thermal anhydride formation and thermal degradation reaction was not found to change very much with the ratio of PAA/Al ₂ O ₃ when the composites were prepared by simple mixing. For the composites prepared by the polymerization method, the activation energy of anhyride formation and thermal degradation reaction were observed to change with percentage conversion.