The degradation of poly(aryl ether ketone) containing 2,7-naphthalene moieties was subjected to dynamic and isothermal thermogravimetry in nitrogen and air. The dynamic experiments showed that the initial degradation temperature, temperature for 5% weight loss, and temperature corresponding to the maximum degradation rate of poly(aryl ether ketone) containing 2,7-naphthalene moieties were a little higher than those of poly(ether ether ketone) and almost independent of the 2,7-naphthalene moiety content. The thermal stability of poly(aryl ether ketone) containing 2,7-naphthalene moieties in air was substantially less than that in nitrogen, and the degradation mechanism was more complex. The results obtained under the isothermal conditions were in agreement with the corresponding results obtained in nitrogen and air under the dynamic conditions. In the dynamic experiments, the apparent activation energies for the degradation processes were 240 and 218 kJ/mol in nitrogen and air for the second reaction stage as the heating rate was higher than 5 degrees C/min. In the isothermal experiments, the apparent activation energies for the degradation processes were 222 and 190 kJ/mol in nitrogen and air, respectively. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.