Effect of pre-heating on the thermal decomposition kinetics of cotton

Authors: Nam, Sunghyun; Condon, Brian

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/13/2017
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The effect of pre-heating at low temperatures (160-280°C) on the thermal decomposition kinetics of scoured cotton fabrics was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis under nonisothermal conditions. Isoconversional methods were used to calculate the activation energies for the pyrolysis after one-hour preheating. The activation energy as a function of pre-heating temperature exhibited two local maxima at 180 and 260°C. For the peak temperature at maximum weight loss rate (Tm), two local minima at 180 and 240°C were observed. This coherent bimodal pattern indicates that the improved structural integrity took place at two pre-heating temperature regimes. Besides pre-heating temperature, pre-heating duration was also an important factor to influence the structural alteration of cotton. As increasing the duration at 280°C, the Tm was further decreased, reaching its minimum at six hours, but increased again at longer duration. Consistent with the Tm results, the increase in char yield reached the maximum—twice the value of control cotton—at the six-hour duration. These results suggest that amorphous cellulose connecting small crystallites as a joint is one source that accelerates the thermal reactions of cotton; the thermal orientation of amorphous segments and/or the removal of amorphous residues by pre-heating enhanced satiability in the thermal decomposition process.