Analysis of Thermal Decomposition Kinetics and Calculation of Activation Energy for Degradation of Polyaniline-Graphene Oxide Composites-Synergistic Reinforcement on Thermal Stability

Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) is one of the most commonly used techniques to study the thermal stability of materials. Thermograms not only give an instant view of thermal stability but can also give insights into the degradation kinetics of the material. This study reports on the degradation kinetics of composite materials based on polyaniline and graphene oxide (PANI-GO) synthesized with varying amounts of GO.  Horwitz & Metzger, Coats & Redfern, and Chan et al., methods were employed for the calculation of activation energy for degradation, using TGA data.  It was observed that their thermal stability and activation energy of degradation are affected by changing the amount of GO during polymerization, indicating PANI and GO synergistically enhance the thermal stability of PANI-GO composites. The highest activation energy value of 29.87 kJ/mol was shown by a composite that contains 6 percent GO. UltraViolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) Analysis also support variations in different properties of the composites as a result of changing GO concentration