Plasticizers: Types, Uses, Classification, Selection & Regulation
Plasticizers increase the flow and thermoplasticity of a polymer by decreasing the viscosity of the polymer melt, the glass transition temperature (Tg), the melting temperature (Tm) and the elastic modulus of the finished product without altering the fundamental chemical character of the plasticized material.
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 Issues
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
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. If plasticizer/water creates hydrogen bonds with hydrophilic parts of the polymer, the associated free volume can be decreased. [clarification needed] [6]
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 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.
- How do plasticizers affect the physical properties of a polymer?
- Additionally, the incorporation of plasticizers into the polymer can affect some physical properties of the polymer such as the viscosity, degree of crystallinity, glass transition temperature (T g), hardness, and density [15, 35].
- Why do elastomer and plastic polymers need a plasticizer?
- Elastomer and plastic polymers may be tough, dry or rigid materials that, for many applications, have a need for plasticizers. A plasticizer, among other contributions, will reduce the melt viscosity, lower the temperature of a second order glass transition (Tg) or lower the elastic modulus of a polymer.
- 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.
- Does a plasticizer increase the free volume of a polymer?
- The addition of a plasticizer to a polymer increases the free volume of the system. Likewise, free volume increases with rising temperature. An important application of the theory to external plasticization has been to clarify the lowering of the Tg temperature of a compound by a plasticizer.
- How do plasticizers affect the microstructure of amorphous and semicrystalline polymers?
- Plasticizers affect the microstructure of amorphous and semicrystalline polymers to achieve the desired properties. All polymer materials have amorphous regions that are disorganized and inefficiently packed, allowing some degree of flexibility.
