Plasticizers – Benefits, Trends, Health, and Environmental Issues
Plasticizers are colorless and odorless esters, mainly phthalates, that increase the elasticity of a material (e.g., polyvinylchloride (PVC)). Plasticizers soften the PVC to make it flexible and bendable. This opens up a huge range of possibilities for new applications.
Plasticizer
Plasticizers can be added to wallboard stucco mixtures to improve workability. In order to reduce the energy consumed drying wallboard, less water is added, which makes the gypsum mixture very unworkable and difficult to mix, necessitating the use of plasticizers, water reducers, or dispersants.
What Plasticizers Do & How They Affect Properties - Osborne Industries
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.
What Are Plasticizers? | Plasticizers in Plastic Manufacturing
Starting with the basics, a plasticizer is a low-volatility liquid or solid substance that’s added to a raw polymer like a type of plastic or rubber to improve its flexibility, make it easier to shape and mold, and reduce friction on its surface.
Plasticizer - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
Plasticizers are used to convert PVC, a rigid plastic, into a soft, flexible, and elastic material. A plasticizer that is compatible with PVC and exhibits low volatility, good permanence, and high efficiency is referred to as a primary plasticizer. A secondary plasticizer has the opposite characteristics of a primary plasticizer.
- How do plasticizers work?
- It was commonly thought that plasticizers work by embedding themselves between the chains of polymers, spacing them apart (increasing the "free volume"), or swelling them and thus significantly lowering the glass transition temperature for the plastic and making it softer.
- 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 do plasticizers reduce TG?
- The reduction of Tg is proportional to the temperature difference between the Tg of the polymer and plasticizer. Plasticization improves the flexibility and processability of polymers. Certain factors can counteract or restrict this enhancement. Certain polymers may have limited compatibility with specific plasticizers, hindering their integration.
- Why are plasticizers used in polyvinyl chloride?
- Plasticizers increase the flow and thermoplasticity of a polymer. This is done by decreasing the viscosity of the polymer melt, Tg, Tm, and elastic modulus of the finished product. During this process, the fundamental chemical character of the plasticized material remains unaltered. Plasticizers are most often used in Polyvinyl chloride.
- How to make a plastic product more flexible by adding plasticizers?
- The process of making the final plastic product more flexible by adding plasticizers is called plasticization. By adding the right type and amount of plasticizer, you can tweak the polymer properties to get exactly what you need.
- How are plasticizers released into the environment?
- The release of plasticizers into the environment can occur during various stages. These include manufacture, distribution, fabrication, product use, and disposal. Most releases occur during the process of incorporating plasticizers into the PVC polymer. 4
