Kinetics and Thermal Degradation of Powder-free Laboratory Examination Gloves by Thermogravimetric Analysis at 333°C and 422°C

Abstract

The kinetics of thermolysis of laboratory safety gloves (LG), was studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at two consecutive isotherm temperatures: 333°C, and 422°C as well as two thermal scan between these two temperatures. Three methods were used to evaluate the kinetics parameters related to the decomposition of LG at 333°C and 422°C isotherms. The results of the study indicate that many zeroth order reactions were occurred, simultaneously. The thermolysis at 333°C fitted better in a second order reaction, while the data at 422°C were not fit to a given order directly. The TGA data at 422°C also fit in a surface decomposition model since the initial reaction order was one and as the reaction progressed the order reached near to zero. The TGA data at 333°C were not fit to this model directly since the surface was saturate before reaching to the isotherm temperature. The activation energy of thermalizes (Ea) from thermal scan was estimated; it was below the amount of C-Cl standard bond energy.