The kinetic characteristics of thermal degradation of PEEK was studied by temperature programmed decomposition. The results show that the thermal degradation of PEEK is not a simple process, but proceeds by three stages. The activation energies are 296.0kJ/mol, 123.7kJ/mol, 153.4kJ/mol respectively and the reaction order are 1 for all three stages. The mechanism of thermal degradation and cross linking of PEEK is also discussed. It is concluded that the thermal degradation of PEEK is started from the breakdown of Ar-O bands and the successive degradation is accompanied by thermal crosslinking.

Key words: REACTION MECHANISM, INFRARED SPECTROPHOTOMETRY, KINETIC ANALYSIS, CROSSLINKING, THERMAL DECOMPOSITION, PARALLEL REACTION, POLYETHERETHERKETONE, CONSECUTIVE REACTION, THERMODYNAMICS, TEMPERATURE PROGRAMMED DECOMPOSITION