Vinyl chloride-ethylene copolymers: The effect of modest ethylene concentrations on the physical properties of compounds

Vinyl chloride-ethylene copolymers containing from 1.0 to 5.5 wt.% ethylene were synthesized and compounded with DOP plasticizer at levels of 0, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 parts per hundred parts of resin. Physical property tests indicated that, as an internal plasticizer, ethylene was 2 to 3 times more efficient than DOP in the range studied. An examination of room temperature modulus as well as brittleness also indicated that crystallinity was still apparent in all copolymers.