Alkaline hydrolysis of polymers with ester groups studied by isothermal calorimetry
Alkaline hydrolysis of polymers produces heat that can be measured with isothermal calorimetry to monitor the hydrolysis. We here report on two studies to measure the enthalpy of alkaline hydrolysis of polymers containing esters of carboxylic acids. The heat from the hydrolysis of films of poly(vinyl acetate), PVAc, was followed for up to 42 days and correlated with the amounts of acetic acid prod