Figure 6 shows that the degradation pattern and thermal stability
are strongly dependent upon the PAA content. PVA undergoes
a three-step degradation process.5 However, the PVA/PAA blend
films show an apparent change in the degradation patterns, with
the degradation thermograms shifted to the right. These results
indicate that the thermal stability of the pure PVA film is improved
by the introduction of PAA. The blend films with 1% and 5% PAA
contents exhibit the highest thermal stability, as shown in Table 1.
All the blend samples show higher thermal stability than pure
PVA; thus, the introduction of PAA into PVA is an effective way to
improve its thermal stability