Effect of halogenated flame-retardant additives in the pyrolysis and thermal degradation of polyester/sisal composites

Summary A series of mono- and bimetallic catalysts of copper and nickel supported on silica were synthesized by the wet impregnation method. The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal analysis (TG/DTG). From TG curves and applying the Vyazovkin model-free kinetics, the apparent activation energy (Ea) related to the decomposition of Cu and Ni nitrates on the silica surface were determined. The obtained values were correlated to the catalytic activity of the materials on the reaction of nitrate degradation in water. The catalytic processes were carried out in a batch slurry reactor under continuous flow of hydrogen in the aqueous solution containing 200 ppm of nitrate. It was verified that the catalysts with lower activation energy presented higher catalytic activity.