Abstract
Poly(vinyl alcohol)/ methyl cellulose (PVA/MC) blends, at different ratios were prepared into films by solution casting using, water as a common solvent, and gamma irradiated at various doses. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to study the thermal properties of gamma irradiated PVA/MC blends. It is expected that these methods would enable to understand the effect of gamma irradiation on the mechanism of thermal decomposition. The kinetic parameters such as energy of activation (Ea) and regression r2 for the thermal decomposition were determined by three different methods. In the present work, the Coats-Redfern, Broido and Horowitz-Metzger methods were applied. The results indicated that the Ea and r2 values of the gamma irradiated PVA/MC blends as determined by the three methods were comparable.