Thermal decomposition and kinetic analysis of sodium propoxides

Sodium n-propoxide and sodium iso-propoxides were synthesized and characterized. Thermal decomposition of these compounds was studied using thermogravinictric technique (TGA) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) under non-isothermal and isothermal conditions. Various analytical techniques namely atomic emission spectroscopy (AES), infrared spectroscopy (IR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), elemental and volumetric analyses were employed to characterize these compounds and their decomposition residues. Kinetic parameters, namely, the activation energy and pre-exponential factor were deduced from the dynamic TGA and MS data. The activation energies derived from isothermal runs for the thermal decomposition of sodium n-propoxide and sodium iso-propoxide were 151.45 +/- 2.16 and 128.07 +/- 3.44 kJ mol(-1), respectively. Decomposition of sodium n-propoxide and sodium iso-propoxide results in the formation of gaseous products of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons leaving behind residue consisting of sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide and free carbon. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.