Exploring Diethylaminoethyl Cellulose: Synthesis, Stability, and Degradation Dynamics

Abstract This research explores the synthesis and characterization of diethylaminoethyl cellulose (DEAE‐cellulose), along with a comprehensive analysis of its pyrolysis properties and degradation kinetics. The DEAE‐cellulose was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffractometry, scanning electron, and EDX microscopy. The thermal behavior of DEAE‐cellulose has been investigated using TGA at four heating rates: 5, 10, 15, and 20 °/min. The kinetic parameters were obtained using four isoconversional model‐free methods proposed by Kissinger, FWO, KAS, and Starink. Using the Kissinger technique, the activation energy and pre‐exponential factor were determined to be 106.94 kJ/mol and 2.2 × 109 min −1 , respectively. In contrast, the average activation energy for free model approaches is 87.48, 82.66, and 82.97 kJ/mol when utilizing the FWO, KAS, and Starink methods, respectively. Then, the most probable reaction functions have also been determined by the CoatsRedfern method, leading to greatly improved calculation performance over the entire conversion range. The 1D diffusion model (D1) at 5 °/min could be considered the best‐fitted model reaction to describe the pyrolysis of DEAE‐cellulose. Various types of reaction mechanism models have been used to determine the thermodynamic parameters at β = 5 °/min, all models have shown positive △H except P1/4 (power law, n = 1/4).