P3O5-10 pillared Mg/Al hydrotalcite (HTs) as a functional fire-retarding filler was successfully prepared by impregnation-reconstruction, where the HTs was used to prepare polypropylene (PP) and HTs composite (PP/HTs). Thermal decomposition was crucial
for correctly identifying the thermal behavior for the PP/HTs, and studied using thermogravimetry (TG) at different heating rates. Based on single TG curves and Málek method, as well as 41 mechanism functions, the thermal decompositions of the PP/HTs composite and PP in nitrogen atmosphere
were studied under non-isothermal conditions. The mechanism functions of the thermal decomposition reactions for the PP/HTs composite and PP were separately “chemical reaction F3” and “phase boundary reaction R2,” which were also in good agreement
with corresponding experimental data. It was found that the addition of the HTs increased the apparent activation energy Ea of the PP/HTs comparing to the PP, which improved the thermal stability of the polypropylene. A difference in the set of kinetic and thermodynamic parameters
was also observed between the PP/HTs and PP, particularly with respect to lower ΔS≠ value assigned to higher thermal stability of the PP/HTs composite.