In this study, the kinetics of thermal degradation of three ionic liquids (ILs) were investigated using non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis to investigate the thermal stability of ILs with various anion. Di(4-sulfonic acid) dibutyltriethylene diammonium di(hydrogen sulfate, (DABCODBSHSO 4 2 ), di(4-sulfonic acid) dibutyltriethylene diammonium di(trifluoromethanesulfonate) (DABCODBSCF 3 SO 3 2 ) and di(4-sulfonic acid) dibutyltriethylene diammonium di(chloride) (DABCODBSCl 2 ) were subjected to thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in the temperature range of 50-800°C at four heating rates of 10, 15, 20 and 25°C/min using nitrogen at a flow rate of 20 L/min as purge gas. The average activation energies (E a ) calculated using Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) and Starink methods are 163.49, 173.33 and 162.58 kJ/mol for DAB CODB SHSO 4 2 , 119.59, 130.41 and 119.07 kJ/mol for DABCODBSCF 3 SO 3 2 , and 199.72, 210.50 and 198.63 kJ/mol for DABCODBSCl 2 , respectively. The results presented through all kinetic methods are in close agreement with each other and showed a decreasing thermal stability trend of DABCODBSCl 2 > DABCODBSHSO 4 2 > DABCODBSCF 3 SO 3 2 . The results also showed that intermediates were formed for DABCODBSCF 3 SO 3 2 and DABCODBSHSO 4 2 until achieved total decomposition, while there was no intermediate formed for the pyrolysis kinetic of DABCODBSCl 2 . This study shows the effect of nature of anion towards the thermal stability and decomposition mechanism of ILs. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.