Thermogravimetric analysis, kinetic study, and pyrolysis-GC/MS analysis of 1,1'-azobis-1,2,3-triazole and 4,4'-azobis-1,2,4-triazole.

Apparent activation energies (E) and pre-exponential factors (lnA/s-1) are 291.4 kJ mol-1 and 75.53 for 1; 396.2 kJ mol-1 and 80.98 for 2 (Kissinger). The values of E are 284.5 kJ mol-1 for 1 and 386.1 kJ mol-1 for 2 (Ozawa-Doyle). The critical temperature of thermal explosion (T b ) is evaluated as 187.01 °C for 1 and 282.78 °C for 2. The title compounds were broken into small fragment ions under the pyrolysis conditions, which then might undergo a multitude of collisions and numerous other reactions, resulting in the formation of C2N2 (m/z 52), etc., before being analyzed by the GC/MS system.