Viscoelasticity and mechanical properties of reactive PVC plastisols

Reactive poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) plastisols have been developed to substitute the hydrocarbon diluents generally used in low viscosity PVC plastisols. For this purpose, methacrylate monomers (5–15%) were added in the PVC suspension (based on diisononyl phtalate plasticizer) to reduce the viscosity at room temperature and to polymerize (by radical polymerization initiated by an organic peroxide) during the gelation process. Both the reactive processing and the gelation process were carried out between the plates of a rheometer cell in the linear viscoelasticity domain (small deformation) and under increasing temperature from room temperature up to 160°C (ω = 6.283 rad s^?1, = 5°C min^?1). A temperature criterion was proposed to define the right balance between the polymerization and the gelation to get the best mechanical properties (i.e., elongation and stress at break). The polymerization process must be slower than the gelation process as the polymerization must take place when PVC grains have fused together to form a homogeneous medium at least at the microscale. Actually, the polymerization kinetics can be controlled by the decomposition kinetics of the organic peroxide. Finally, triethylene glycol dimethacrylate and lauryl methacrylate monomers and dicumyl peroxide as initiator turned out to be the best reactive system for some potential industrial applications. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers