Crosslinking of poly(vinyl chloride) with bismaleic compound. II. Rheological behavior and mechanical properties of crosslinked PVC

In this study the rheological behavior of crosslinking PVC was studied. We carefully probed the effects of styrene and initiators on crosslink course and further verified PVC's crosslink mechanism suggested previously. St as auxiliary crosslinker was very important for PVC crosslink, no matter whether at lower temperature or at higher temperature, in the absence of initiator or in the presence of initiator. With higher decay temperature cumvl hydroperoxide (CHP) was a very appropriate initiator for PVC crosslinking. By controlling technological conditions, the crosslinked PVC with different cross density was obtained. We found that PVC with THF-insoluble fraction of about 7% had the best tenacity and maximum breaking energy. The tensile strength would increase as the gel-fraction content increased. By citing T. Kurauchi's ROF toughening theory, we satisfactorily explained the good ductility of crosslinked PVC with low cross density and the high fragility of over-crosslinked PVC. Because the motion of segments is hindered in thoroughly crosslinked PVC, its glass transition was so weak that we hardly found out T_g.