Effect of boric acid on the stabilization of poly(acrylonitrile-co-itaconic acid)

The effect of boric acid on the stabilization of poly(acrylonitrile-co-itaconic acid) (P(AN-co-IA)) was studied in detail by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) incorporating with thermogravimetry (TG) in air and nitrogen. In nitrogen atmosphere the ionic cyclization of the doped P(AN-co-IA) copolymer was badly retarded by boric acid, however, the free radical cyclization was little influenced. In air atmosphere boric acid was found to weaken the first exothermic peak corresponding to dehydrogenation and cyclization reactions, and enhance the second exothermic peak corresponding to the oxidative reactions resulting in a great expansion of the heat evolved. The activation energy of stabilization was calculated with Kissinger method, the results indicated that boric acid seemed to be effective to reduce the activation energy. TG studies showed that boric acid could reduce the weight loss during stabilization, which could be attributed to the crosslinking of polymer chains caused by the reaction between boric acid and the hydroxyl groups.