BACKGROUND: Polymers of phenols and aromatic amines have emerged as new materials in fields such as superconductors, coatings, laminates, photoresists and high‐temperature environments. The stability, kinetics and associated pollution of the thermal decomposition of oligophenols are of interest for the aforementioned fields.
RESULTS: A new Schiff base polymer, derived from N,N′‐bis(2‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenylmethylidene)‐2,6‐pyridinediamine, was prepared by oxidative polycondensation. Characterisations using Fourier transform infrared, UV‐visible, 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis, gel permeation chromatography, cyclic voltammetry and conductivity measurements were performed. The number‐average (Mn) and weight‐average molecular weight (Mw) and dispersity (D = Mw/Mn) of the polymer were found to be 61 000 and 94 200 g mol−1 and 1.54, respectively. Apparent activation energies of the thermal decomposition of the polymer were determined using the Tang, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa, Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose and Coats–Redfern methods. The most likely decomposition process was a Dn deceleration type in terms of the Coats–Redfern and master plot results.
CONCLUSION: The mechanism of the degradation process can be understood through the use of kinetic parameters obtained from various non‐isothermal methods. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry