Effects of Natural Chitosan as Biopolymer Coupling Agent on the Pyrolysis Kinetics of Wood Flour/ Polyvinyl Chloride Composites

The thermal degradation behavior and pyrolysis kinetic models of wood flour (WF)/PVC composites before and after adding chitosan were studied using thermogravimetry (TGA) and nine common kinetic model functions (f(α)). The results indicated that the thermal degradation temperature of WF/PVC composites was delayed to a higher value after adding chitosan. The first-order reaction order (L1) model and secondorder reaction order (L2) model were found to be the best reaction order functions for the description of mass loss kinetics of WF/PVC without chitosan during the first and second stages. Two L2 models were suitable for both degradation stages of WF/CS/PVC. Activation energy (E) and frequency factor (A) for WF/PVC and WF/CS/PVC corresponded to 26.05 kJ·mol, 4.08×10 s, and 40.89 kJ·mol, 2.11×10 s at the first degradation stage, respectively, and 97.83 kJ·mol, 1.11×10 s and 92.88 kJ·mol, 1.56×10 s at the second degradation stage.