| Abstract: | Thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) was studied in nitrogen atmosphere in the presence of rubber seed oil and epoxidized rubber seed oil, barium and lead soaps of rubber seed oil, and epoxidized seed oil at various temperatures. The rate of dehydrochlorination at 1% degradation and the time required to attain 1% degradation were used to assess the effect of the thermal susceptibility of PVC to dehydrochlorination. It was found that epoxidized rubber seed oil, the metal soaps of rubber seed oil, and epoxidized rubber seed oil markedly enhance the thermal stability of PVC. The order of increasing stabilizing influence was metal soaps of epoxidized rubber seed oil > metal soaps of rubber seed oil > epoxidized rubber seed oil > rubber seed oil. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
