PVC Degradation and Stabilization, Fourth Edition, includes new developments in PVC production, new stabilization methods and mechanisms, new approaches to plasticization, methods of waste reprocessing, accelerated degradation due to electric breakdown, and much more. The book contains all the information necessary for the successful design of stabilization formulas in any PVC-based product. Other topics covered include degradation by thermal energy, UV, gamma and other forms of radiation, chemical degradation, and more. Analytical methods for studying degradative and stabilization processes aid readers in establishing a system for verifying results of stabilization with different stabilizing systems. Many new topics included in this edition are of particular interest today. These comprise new developments in PVC production yielding range of new grades, new stabilization methods and mechanisms (e.g. synergistic mixtures containing hydrotalcites and their synthetic equivalents, beta-diketones, functionalized fillers, Shiff bases), new approaches to plasticization, methods of waste reprocessing (life cycle assessment, reformulation, biodegradable materials, and energy recovery), accelerated degradation due to electric breakdown, and many more Revised to include cutting-edge research, patent updates and other information required to design successful stabilization in PVC-based products Covers chemical structure, PVC manufacturing technology, morphology, degradation by thermal energy, mechanodegradation, and more Includes a chapter on the analytical methods used in studying degradative and stabilization processes Discusses information on the effects of PVC and its additives on health, safety and the environment

Polyvinyl chloride has played a key role in the development of the plastics industry over the past 40 years and continues to be a polymer of major importance. The reasons for its enormous versatility and range of application derive from a combination of the basic structure which gives rise to a relatively tough and rigid material and its ability to accept a range of plasticisers and other additives which can modify its physical characteristics to produce a range of flexible products. Two major problems, however, have tested the skill and ingenuity of PVC technologists since earliest times. One is the thermal instability of the material at the temperatures required for melt processing and fabrication, and the second is the photochemical instability which until recently has limited the potentially large range of outdoor applications. Both problems have been handled in a commercially satisfactory way by the gradual development of a range of stabilisers, lubricants and other processing aids and the high quality material which has resulted has led to massive utilisation of PVC by industry. Totally adequate stabilisation requires a detailed understanding of the mechanisms by which degradation processes are initiated and propagated. Although great advances have been made in this respect in recent years the problem remains incompletely understood. This book presents an account of the present position and the problems which remain to be solved.

The study of polymer degradation and stabilisation is of considerable practical importance as the industrial uses of polymeric materials continue to expand. In this book, the authors lucidly relate technological phenomena to the chemistry and physics of degradation and stabilisation processes. Degradation embraces a variety of technologically important phenomena ranging from relatively low temperature processes such as 'weathering' of plastics, 'fatigue' of rubbers through the processing of polymers in shearing mixers to very high temperature processes such as flammability and ablation. All these technological phenomena have in common certain basic chemical reactions. Thus 'weathering' has its roots in photo-oxidation, 'fatigue' and melt-degradation in mechano-oxidation and flammability, and ablation in ablation in pyrolysis and vapour phase oxidation.

Polyvinyl chloride has played a key role in the development of the plastics industry over the past 40 years and continues to be a polymer of major importance. The reasons for its enormous versatility and range of application derive from a combination of the basic structure which gives rise to a relatively tough and rigid material and its ability to accept a range of plasticisers and other additives which can modify its physical characteristics to produce a range of flexible products. Two major problems, however, have tested the skill and ingenuity of PVC technologists since earliest times. One is the thermal instability of the material at the temperatures required for melt processing and fabrication, and the second is the photochemical instability which until recently has limited the potentially large range of outdoor applications. Both problems have been handled in a commercially satisfactory way by the gradual development of a range of stabilisers, lubricants and other processing aids and the high quality material which has resulted has led to massive utilisation of PVC by industry. Totally adequate stabilisation requires a detailed understanding of the mechanisms by which degradation processes are initiated and propagated. Although great advances have been made in this respect in recent years the problem remains incompletely understood. This book presents an account of the present position and the problems which remain to be solved.