Risk of impurities on thermal decomposition of benzoyl peroxide

In order to investigate the thermal decomposition of benzoyl peroxide (BPO) under different conditions, several thermal decomposition experiments at different heating rates and with different impurities were performed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The apparent activation energy was calculated by Kissinger and Ozawa method to assess the characteristics and risks of the exothermic decomposition process of BPO. As the experimental results, the temperature of initial decomposition varies as t₀(C₇H₈)<t₀ (H₂O)<t₀ (BPO)<t₀ (NaOH), meaning that proper amount of toluene can promote the decomposition of BPO better than water, but the sodium hydroxide can be as an inhibitor. The reaction heat of decomposition differs as ΔH(H₂O)<ΔH(C₇H₈)<ΔH(BPO)<ΔH (NaOH), indicating that the water and toluene can reduce the amount of heat released by the system, while the addition of sodium hydroxide can make it significantly increased. From the viewpoint of kinetic parameters, E(C₇H₈)<E(BPO)<E(NaOH)<E(H₂O), toluene can increase the decomposition rate of BPO, but the sodium hydroxide and water are negative.