Flexible poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) has been widely used for intravenous (IV) tubes because of its excellent flexibility, low combustibility, good flame retardation, high electrical insulation properties and its cost effectiveness. Flexible PVC contains large amounts of phthalate based plasticizers which migrate out of the PVC matrix, leading to the environmental concerns and endocrine disruption of human body. Therefore, the development of a nontoxic, phthalate-free alternative plasticizer is urgently needed for human health and enormous PVC applications.<br/>In this research, three types of non-phthalate plasticizers without endocrine disruption were incorporated for preparation of flexible PVC and their plasticization effect was investigated. To improve insufficient thermal and mechanical properties of flexible PVC, montmorillonite (MMT) reinforced PVC nanocomposite were prepared by melt compounding process. Surface modification of MMT to enhance the dispersion and compatibility in the PVC matrix was successfully performed, as confirmed by FT-IR, and NMR analyses. Morphological observations revealed that the modified MMT was uniformly dispersed in the PVC matrix, as compared to the untreated MMT. Furthermore, a very small quantity of the modified MMT substantially increased the glass transition temperature, and tensile properties of the PVC nanocomposites. Furthermore, the modified MMT enhanced the thermal stability of flexible PVC by increasing the activation energy for thermal degradation because of its physical barrier effect. This research demonstrates that the thermal, mechanical, and rheological properties of the flexible PVC nanocomposites are strongly dependent on the modified MMT, providing a design guide of MMT-reinforced PVC nanocomposites with a great potential for IV tubes. This research was supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of Korea; Project No. NRF-2015M3C8A6A06014792.

Investigation of non-phthalate plasticized poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC)/montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposites

251st National Meeting (2016)

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