Effect of compatibility between solvent and poly(vinyl chloride) on dechlorination of poly(vinyl chloride)

In this study, the use of diethylene glycol (DEG), triethylene glycol (TEG), n-C₁₀H₂₁OH, and ethylene glycol (EG) as solvents for NaOH in the dechlorination of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was investigated. In the early reaction time, the degrees of dechlorination for DEG, TEG, and n-C₁₀H₂₁OH were notably higher than that for EG. Further, the high compatibility between PVC and the solvents was considered to result in the easy penetration of the solvent and OH⁻ into PVC particles, leading to the acceleration of dechlorination in the early reaction stage. An improvement of the dechlorination was actually observed for DEG and TEG compared with EG. The solvent with the best compatibility to PVC, n-C₁₀H₂₁OH, however, showed little improvement due to the formation of a protective polyene layer on the surface of the PVC particles.