Degradation kinetics of polycarbonate composites: Kinetic parameters and artificial neural network

Abstract

In order to design a reactor, kinetics of degradation of polycarbonate/CaCO3 composites was investigated here by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), applying model-free and modelistic methods together, to obtain E, A, δS∗, δH∗ and δG∗ (kinetic parameters). The system was tested with all the mechanisms available using non-isothermal modelistic method (Coats-Redfern). This approach allowed choosing the models, which are otherwise difficult to decide upon simply based on regression fit methods. The mechanism proposed was a simple nth order. Application of artificial neural network supported in designing a neural network could lead to a quick determination of kinetic parameters.