The thermal decomposition of 86 % vinyl chloride 14 % vinyl acetate coPolymer was studied by the conductometry technique in the presence of nitrogen. The kinetics of stability and thermal degradation of vinyl chloride- co- vinyl acetate (PVC- co- PVAc) coPolymer with copper, copper oxide and tricalcium dicitrate (st) were investigated at various temperatures (150-180oC) in solution. The rate coefficients for the degradation of the coPolymer were determined. The energies of activation, determined from the temperature dependence of the rate coefficients for coPolymer alone was 63.536 kJ mol-1 and in the presence of copper, copper oxide and tricalcium dicitrate were 44.224, 55.594 and 110.332 KJ mol-1, respectively. The results show that thermal stability was increased in the presence of tricalcium dicitrate, but its thermal stability was decreased in the presence of copper and copper oxide.

In this paper an experimental study is presented to investigate the effectiveness of UPVC tube for confinement of concrete columns. UPVC tubes having 140 mm, 160 mm and 200 mm external diameters were used to confine the concrete having compressive strength 20 MPa, 25 MPa and 40 MPa. The concrete has been designed using IS code 10262-1982 (Reaffirmed −2004) (BIS: 10262–1982, Reaffirmed −2004). The testing of the specimens was carried out on a displacement controlled Instron make Universal Testing Machine of 2500 kN capacity. During the experiments mode of deformation and corresponding load-compression curves were recorded and obtained results are compared with the existing models for confined concrete available in the literature. It is found that the predicted capacities of columns using different models are within ±6% of the experimental capacities. It is found that UPVC tubes can be effectively used for confinement of the concrete columns and to enhance their load capacity, ductility as well as energy absorbing capacity.

In this work, the photo-stabilization of Poly (vinyl chloride) was studied using new compounds such as Schiff base stabilizers derived from heterocyclic compounds, with symbols [I1-I4] which were used as additives to prevent the PVC photodegradation. Many samples have been prepared as films for this purpose by adding the additives to Poly (vinyl chloride) with varying weight percentages of additives and thicknesses. The photostabilization activities for these new compounds were measured by detecting the carbonyl group with irradiation time (the absorption band of carbonyl was determined at 1724-1772 cm-1). FT-IR spectra PERKIN ELMER SPEACTUM-65, JASCO used to determine the absorption spectra of PVC films, also the viscosity average molecular weight , the average number of chain scission (S), and the degree of deterioration (α) were studied. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and light microscope are also used to test the Polymeric films surface. We discovered that in the existence of additives, the rate of photostabilization follows the trend:-

In this research, shape memory effect of Polycaprolactone based Polyurethane/Poly (vinylchloride) blends in which the PVC weight percentage are 10,20, 30, 40, 60 and 80 were studied using DMA apparatus. The compatibility, tension and dynamic-mechanical properties of these blends have been studied by the authors and this paper specifically deals with the tests results of shape memory effect. The results of tension tests in about 20 percent showed that with increasing PVC content in the blends, recovery rate of temporary shape to permanent shape, the degree of recovery, and the fixity in quantity of temporary shape are improved. Therefore, the supplementary shape memory tests were performed on the blend with the highest PVC weight percent (80 percent). In this blend, with increasing tension in thermomechanical cycle, the amount of recovery to earlier shape is decreased due to higher plastic strain. The shape memory tests in consecutive cycles were done on this blend and the behavior of the first cycle was compared with the second and the third cycles. One small tensile handy apparatus was used in order to accomplish shape memory tests in higher tension values and the DMA results were registered. In this research the blend with 80 weight percent of PVC as the best shape memory effect was selected.

With the fast development of auto industry, more and more new functional materials are developed to satisfy our life. Auto interior materials are usually suffered from the attack of bacteria and therefore affect people. In this work, we reported on the fabrication of novel antimicrobial Poly(vinyl chloride) plastic (PVCP-I, PVCP-II) with antimicrobial halloysite nanotubes and SiO2/ZnO/ZnS/Ag2S nano-composites as additives, respectively, and then these two kinds of novel antimicrobial Poly(vinyl chloride) PVC materials were applied to automobile interior. FirebrakeÒ ZB was used as the fire retardant and the results showed that the prepared PVC materials have excellent non-flammability properties. The oxygen indexes of traditional PVCP, PVCP-I and PVCP-II were 30.1, 31.9 and 32.5 %, respectively. PVC antimicrobial materials were prepared by coating on the special paper. PVCP-I and PVCP-II could kill more than 99 % of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with concentration of about 7×107 and 4×107 CFU mL-1, respectively. Mechanical properties and thermal stability were also investigated to study the physical characteristics of the prepared PVC plastic. The formation of nano-additives was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Antimicrobial capacity was used as a probe to evaluate the potential applications of prepared PVC-I and PVC-II materials in antimicrobial automobile interiors. Also, the material was characterized by thermo-gravimetric analysis; the result showed that PVCP-I and PVCP-II have excellent thermo-stability. What counts is the simple processing and outstanding characteristic of the PVCP material and great application potential may have in store for the obtained antimicrobial PVC-I and PVCP-II.

The compatibilizing effect of hyperbranched Poly(amide-ester) grafted Polypropylene (PP-HBP) had been investigated in Polypropylene (PP)/Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) blends. In this work, PP/PVC/PP-HBP blends were prepared by melt mixing. Mechanical and rheological properties and phase morphologies of the blends were studied as a function of PP-HBP. The results showed that the tensile strength of the blends reached the maximum value when the content of PP-HBP was 5 phr and then dropped on the increase of PP-HBP. The impact strength of the blends showed a small change as that of pure PP/PVC blend, and the viscosity of the PP/PVC/PP-HBP blends was higher than that of pure PP/PVC when the amount of PP-HBP added was£ 5 phr. The viscosity of the PP/PVC/PP-HBP blends was lower than that of pure PP/PVC blend when PP/PVC blend contained PP-HBP > 5 phr. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that a two-phase morphology was characteristic of all blends. In presence of PP-HBP, the PVC spherical droplets of the minor phase dispersed in a PP continuous matrix phase, whereas there was a large difference among the minor-phase particle sizes. The SEM photos also confirmed that PP-HBP could enhance the adhesion at the interface and reduce the phase separation of PP/PVC blend. The tensile strength of the blends was in accordance with their morphology.

With environmental and toxicity concerns becoming more critical, there are increasing efforts to remove phthalates from Polymer compounds around the globe more rapidly. Phthalates can be replaced by natural products; in particular, those obtained from vegetable oils and fats. In the present study, a natural-based plasticizer, synthesized by epoxidation of non-toxic rice bran oil (RBO) with peroxy acid generated in situ has been added to Poly (vinyl chloride). The influence of various reaction parameters on epoxidation was studied by investigating the reaction ratio, temperature, reaction time and stirring speed. Epoxidized rice bran oil (ERBO) obtained from an optimized reaction condition was analyzed by iodine number and oxirane content. FTIR was used to analyze epoxy group formation. Product ERBO was obtained with 82 % oxirane conversion within 3 h of reaction period. PVC sheets were formulated using a conventional plasticizer di-(octyl) phthalate and was partially replaced by synthesized ERBO. The effect of ERBO addition was tested by mechanical properties (tensile strength, modulus, elongation-at-break, shore D hardness) and compared with commercially available ESBO (epoxidized soybean oil). ERBO presented fairly good incorporation and plasticizing performance, as demonstrated by the results of mechanical properties, exudation, migration tests, thermal stability by thermogravimetric analysis, T g values as shown by differential scanning calorimetry, replacing about 60 % of the total plasticizer.

A series of Na-montmorillonite (Na+-MMT) modified acrylic impact modifiers (mAIM) were prepared by seeded emulsion Polymerization. These mAIM modifiers were characterized by XRD. A 0.24 nm of increased interlayer distance of Na+-MMT was an indication of Polymer chains intercalation within interlayer spacing. The notched Izod impact tests proved that the impact strength of the PVC/AIM composites prepared by melt blending was 43 J/m, markedly higher than the impact strength of pure PVC. Furthermore, with increasing content of AIM, the composites exhibited changes from brittle fracture to ductile fracture, with the impact strength increasing from 200 to about 1,000 J/m. The impact strength of PVC/mAIM also showed the same trend, although there were drops in some values. The impact strength of PVC/mAIM composites decreased with the increases in Na+-MMT content, but the yield strength and modulus of the composites increased with higher Na+-MMT content. The result also showed that the tensile strength of mAIM with 2 wt % Na+-MMT is lower than that of mAIM with 0.8 and 1 wt % contents, but still sufficiently large in comparison to the tensile strength of mAIM with 0 wt % Na+-MMT. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) result showed that the glass transition temperature (T g) of mAIM did not show obvious changes and the elasticity of mAIM was reduced with the additional Na+-MMT content.