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.
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.
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 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.
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 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 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
- How do plasticizers affect a polymer?
- Well-chosen plasticizers can also improve resistance to UV exposure and chemical attack. This contributes to the long-term stability of the polymer. In specific applications, plasticizers can influence the dielectric properties of polymers.
- How does plasticizer affect the mobility of a polymer chain?
- The mobility of a polymer chain is more complex in the presence of plasticizer than what the Flory–Fox equation predicts for a simple polymer chain. The molecules of plasticizer take control over mobility of the chain - a polymer chain does not show an increase of the free volume around polymer ends.
- 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.
- 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.
