Thermal stability and degradation kinetics of polyphenols and polyphenylenediamines enzymatically synthesized by horseradish peroxidase

−Various substituted phenols and phenylenediamines were enzymatically polymerized by horseradish peroxidase in 80% (v/v) organic solvents-aqueous buffer (100 mM sodium acetate, pH 5) mixtures with H2O2 as the oxidant. The thermal stability of the polymers was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and represented by the char yield (wt% of the initial polymer mass) after being heated at 800 C. Poly(p-phenylphenol) had the highest thermal stability among the synthesized polymers with a char yield of 47 wt%. The polymers containing amino groups such as poly(p-aminophenol) and polyphenylenediamines were also shown to possess high thermal stabilities. The activation energies for the thermal degradation of the polymers determined by derivative thermogravimetric analysis (DTG) using Horowitz-Metzger’s pseudo-first-order kinetics were in the range between 23-65 kJ/mol and comparable to those of the chemically synthesized polymers. Dynamic structural changes of the enzymatically synthesized polymers upon heating were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The DSC curves of poly(p-phenylphenol) showed a broad exothermic peaks between 150-250 C, indicating that the polymer undergoes complex structural transitions in the temperature range. On the other hand, the DSC curves of the poly(p-aminophenol) and the poly(p-phenylenediamine) which contain amino groups showed strong sharp endothermic peaks near 150 C, implying that these polymers possess homogeneous oriented structures which undergo a concerted structural disintegration upon heating.