Th e t he rm al d egr ad at ion b eh av io rs of p oly (v in yl al coh ol ) ( PV A) a nd P VA /z in c ox id e ( Zn O) c om pos it e ar e in ve st ig at ed u sin g d if fer en tia l th er ma l an al ys is ( DT A) . Th e d egr ad at ion ac tivation en er gy (Ed), frequency factor (ko) and Avrami exponent (n) as thermal kinetic parameters are calculated from the DTA results. The calculated values of Ed are 80.94 and 148.58 kJ mol 1 for PVA and PVA/ZnO composite, respectively, indicating the enhancement of the PVA thermal stability as ZnO nanoparticles are filled in PVA matrix. The n values are evaluated from the shape analyses of degradation peaks. From estimated n values, the degradation mechanisms are determined for both the complexes under investigation.