Abstract
The thermal degradation of polymethacrylic acid was found to have two separate decomposition regions. The first decomposition region, due to anhydride formation primarily, was caused by the conversion of polymethacrylic acid to polymethacrylic anhydride. This reaction followed first-order kinetics and had an activation energy of 40.5 kcal/mol. The second decomposition region was the thermal degradation for the corresponding polymethacrylic anhydride. In this region, the fragmentation of anhydride rings structure in polymethacrylic anhydride constitutes the major decomposition reaction with an activation energy of 37.4 kcal/mol.