What Plasticizers Do & How They Affect Properties | Osborne
Plasticizers act like a lubricant among polymer chains to reduce rigidity. Without them, synthetic polymer materials would be too brittle and rigid for any practical purpose. For example, plasticizers give rubber its extensibility. Approximately 90% of all plasticizers are used in polyvinyl chloride, or PVC.
Plasticizer - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
Plasticizers are low molecular weight substances added to a polymer solution to promote its plasticity and flexibility. Therefore, the plasticizers make the polymer solution more suitable for the application of film coating. There should be chemical similarities between the polymers and its plasticizers.
Plasticizers – Benefits, Trends, Health, and Environmental
Plasticizers soften the PVC to make it flexible and bendable. This opens up a huge range of possibilities for new applications. One of the main benefits of plasticizers is the durability they confer onto PVC applications, which can ensure high performances for up to 50 years.
Plasticizer
It was commonly thought that plasticizers work by embedding themselves between the chains of polymers, spacing them apart (increasing the "free volume"), [3] [4] or swelling them and thus significantly lowering the glass transition temperature for the plastic and making it softer.
Plastic Additives: Polymer Stabilizers, Plasticizers and
Plasticizers can increase the flexibility, extensibility, and plasticity of plastics because of their ability to weaken the van der Waals forces between polymer molecules, thereby increasing the mobility of polymer molecular chains and reducing the crystallinity of polymer molecular chains.
- How does a plasticizer interact with a polymer?
- External plasticizers have a low vapor pressure. They interact with the polymer at high temperatures without a chemical reaction. The interaction happens through their solvent or swelling ability. It's essential to differentiate between solvent plasticizers and nonsolvent plasticizers.
- Why are external plasticizers used in polymerization?
- Compared to adding plasticizers during polymerization, they give manufacturers more flexibility in formulation. External plasticizers have a low vapor pressure. They interact with the polymer at high temperatures without a chemical reaction. The interaction happens through their solvent or swelling ability.
- Do plasticizers have thermal effects?
- The thermal effects of plasticizers are also typically desirable to increase the ease of processing and to reduce energy expenditure when processing the polymer. The glass transition temperature is the most important when discussing the use and value of plasticizers.
- What factors affect plasticizer efficiency?
- Internal mobility (flexibility): This parameter plays a crucial role in determining plasticizer efficiency. This is true for various polymers unless polymer crystallinity is involved. The reduction of Tg is proportional to the temperature difference between the Tg of the polymer and plasticizer.
- Why do polymers need plasticizers?
- The plasticizers reduce the glass transition temperature, and the viscosity of the polymer also enhances the flexibility and processability of polymer materials. The main problem of these additives is that, over time, they migrate from the polymeric matrix and exude to the surface of polymeric matrix.
- Why are plasticizer molecules difficult to penetrate crystalline regions?
- Plasticizer molecules face greater difficulty penetrating crystalline regions compared to amorphous regions. This is because minimal free space exists between polymer chains of crystalline polymers. Highly volatile plasticizers may evaporate over time. They lead to loss of plasticization and a decrease in material flexibility.
