Dynamic and isothermal thermogravimetric analysis of a polycyanurate thermosetting system

Abstract Isothermal and dynamic thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were performed on a polycyanurate thermosetting material. The effects on thermal stability of the copper naphthenate catalyst were studied by comparing two systems with different amounts of catalyst. Tests were performed isothermally at temperatures ranging from 200°C to 240°C for times up to one week. Dynamic tests were also performed at rates from 0.1°C/min to 40°C/min at temperatures ranging from 180°C to 600°C. It is found that increasing the concentration of copper increased the weight loss in isothermal tests, but did not affect the overall activation energy. Conversely, in dynamic tests, copper concentration had no effect on weight loss. The results demonstrate the difficulties of extrapolating dynamic TGA data to use conditions in order to predict long‐term thermal stability.