Abstract: Using corn straw as raw material, the characteristics and kinetics of its pyrolysis were studied by TG. The physicochemical properties of corn straw before and after pyrolysis were analzed according to the TG and DTG curves. Activation energy of corn straw pyrolysis were calculated using the isoconversional models of Flynn-Wall-Ozawa(FWO) and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose(KAS), and the thermal degradation mechanism was investigated by the master-plot and Coats-Redfern(C-R) methods. The results showed that the pyrolysis process of corn straw could be divided into 4 stages: drying dehydration stage, transition stage, main pyrolysis stage, and carbonization stage. The pyrolysis curve shifted to the high temperature side with the increasing heating rate. The apparent activation energies calculated by FWO and KAS were 181.7 and 181.5 kJ/mol, respectively. The pyrolysis mechanism equation of corn straw was calculated using the master-plot method and C-R method, which follows Avrami-Erofeev equation. When α=0.1-0.5, n=3, f(α)=1/3(1-α)-ln(1-α)^-2, and when α=0.5-0.7, n=2, f(α)=1/2(1-α)-ln(1-α)^-1.