Nonisothermal decomposition kinetics of nylon 1010/POSS composites

The thermal stability of nylon 1010/polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) composites prepared by melt blending was investigated with thermogravimetric analysis. The octavinyl POSS (vPOSS) and epoxycyclohexyl POSS (ePOSS) were used, and it was found that nylon/vPOSS composites have higher integral procedure decomposition temperature and char yield at 800°C than nylon/ePOSS composites. The Doyle–Ozawa (model‐free) and Friedman (model‐fitting) methods were used to characterize the nonisothermal decomposition kinetics of nylon 1010 and its composites. The activation energy (E_a), reaction order (n), and the natural logarithm of frequency factor of nylon 1010 were 267 kJ/mol, 1.0, and 47 min^?1, respectively, in nitrogen. After the addition of POSS, the E_a of nylon 1010 considerably increased, whereas n had less change. The E_a steadily increased with increasing conversion and with increasing heating rate. The lifetime of nylon 1010 and its composites decreased with increasing temperature. At a given temperature, POSS significantly prolonged the lifetime of nylon 1010. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009