The therm
al properties of microc
apsules cont
aining c
arbon n
anofibers (CNFs) suspended in ethyl phenyl
acet
ate (EPA) were investig
ated by thermogr
avimetric
an
alysis coupled with m
ass spectrometry (TGA-MS). The pyrolysis of these microc
apsules consisted of two st
ages. During the first one (100-150 掳C), the emissions of
arom
atic compounds coming from the decomposition of EPA were identified. In the second one (150-290 掳C), NH
2-CO coming from prim
ary
amide decomposition w
as m
ainly detected.
A multiple-step model was used to predict the thermal decomposition of the synthesized microcapsules under both inert and oxidant atmospheres. Furthermore, pyrolysis and combustion kinetic parameters such as pre-exponential factor and activation energy of these microcapsules were estimated by nonlinear regression. An excellent agreement between experimental and predicted data was observed and confirmed from the statistical point of view.