Thermal, thermomechanical, and morphological characterization of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)/ZnO nanocomposites: PVC molecular weight effect

Abstract

Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)‐based nanocomposites containing 2 wt% zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles were prepared by solution casting and the effect of the PVC molecular weight (MW) on the morphology, thermal properties, and thermogravimetric behavior was studied. The addition of ZnO nanoparticles to PVCs of different MWs increased the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resulting nanocomposites, the extent of which was dependent upon the MW of the PVC matrix. The nanocomposite samples exhibited broadened transition zones as compared with their unfilled PVC matrices. The extent of transition zone broadening was also controlled by the MW of the PVC matrix in the nanocomposites. In the absence of ZnO nanoparticles, the increase in MW of PVC had no effect on the breadth of the transition zone. The TGA results showed that the incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles into PVC matrices of different MWs accelerated the first stage weight loss via the nanoparticle catalytic effect through removal of HCL from the polymeric chains. The presence of ZnO nanoparticles lowered the second stage weight loss, and the char yield obtained for nanocomposites samples was significantly greater than that obtained for neat PVC samples. At low MWs, the presence of ZnO nanoparticles had no effect on the first stage of thermal degradation process. The presence of ZnO nanoparticles in the matrix in different nanocomposites was revealed by SEM observations, and the EDX analysis demonstrated a progressive improvement in the distribution and dispersion state of ZnO nanoparticles in the PVC‐based nanocomposites as the MW of PVC matrix gradually increased. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 25:E63–E71, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers

Experimental and Theoretical Approaches for Polyvinylchloride Enhanced with Metal Oxides/Graphene

“…Furthermore, PVC/CuO/G peaks at 2θ = 18.07°, 24.47°, 31.69°, 34.36°, 36.19°, 47.52°, 56.57°, 62.80°, 67.89°, and 69.11° related to (110), ( 201), (301), (120), ( 101), ( 102 the fractured surfaces of pure PVC to be comparatively smooth. The interaction of PVC with both ZnO and G results in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles [35]. In addition to this, the G sheets on the surfaces of nanocomposite samples are in the form of agglomerated structures.…”

Nonisothermal Kinetic Analysis and AC Conductivity for Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)/Zinc Oxide (ZnO) Nanocomposite

“…The second main decomposition is confined between 350 and 550°C. The 1 st stage corresponds to the evolution of hydrogen chloride causing formation of polyene structure while the 2 nd stage is attributed to the thermal cracking of the carbonaceous-conjugated polyene sequences [7].…”

“…The addition of treated ZnO accelerates the initiation of HCl. The formation of HCl accelerates the formation of double bond sequences in the polymer backbone [1,7]. The rate of formation of HCl depends strongly on the presence of oxygen [11,28].…”

“…PVC loaded with 2 wt.% ZnO nanoparticles was prepared to investigate the effect of molecular weight of PVC on the thermal properties of nanocomposite [7]. The glass transition Advances in Polymer Technology of the prepared nanocomposite was increased, and it was noted that the higher the molecular weight, the greater the extent of the glass transition enhancement.…”

Enhancing gelation properties of dioctyl phthalate using urethane and urea‐based gelators to improve mechanical properties of polyvinylchloride

“…When the content of plasticizer is less than 10%, it is considered to be rigid PVC; when the content of plasticizer is between 10% and 30%, it is considered to be semi-rigid PVC; when the content of plasticizer is between 30% and 70%, it is considered to be soft PVC; when the content of plasticizer exceeds 80%, it is considered to be PVC paste plastic. [18,19] In most cases, nanoscale inorganic particles such as ZnO, Fe 2 O 3 , CaCO 3 and montmorillonite [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] can significantly improve the mechanical properties of PVC/DOP. However, there are very few studies use gelators to prepare DOP gel , further enhancing the mechanical properties of PVC/DOP gel .…”