Journal of Risk Analysis and Crisis Response, 2022, 12(3), 143-151

https://jracr.com/
ISSN Print: 2210-8491
ISSN Online: 2210-8505

Review

Poly Vinyl Chloride Additives and Applications - A

Review
Abdallah S. Elgharbawy 1,2,*
1 Materials Science Department, Institute of Graduate Studies and Research (IGSR), Alexandria University,
Alexandria (21526), Alexandria Province, Egypt
2 The Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (ETHYDCO), Alexandria (21526), Alexandria Province,

Egypt
* Correspondence: [email protected]

Received: February 23, 2022; Accepted: April 16, 2022; Published: September 30, 2022

Abstract: A Pure polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a white, brittle material and it is the third-largest
polymers produced after polyethylene and polypropylene as 40 million tons of PVC are produced
yearly. The basic structure of PVC is (C2H3Cl)n and it is produced by polymerization of the vinyl
chloride monomer (VCM) with a polymerization degree ranges from 300 to 1500. The chlorine
content in PVC is about 57% by weight, which makes it less dependent on hydrocarbon content. In
this paper, we are going to reveal the PVC additives and applications.

Keywords: Poly Vinyl Chloride; PVC Application; PVC Additives

1. Introduction

There are two types of PVC which are rigid and flexible. The rigid PVC is a type of PVC that do
not contain plasticizers and used in the construction activities. Whereas, the flexible type is made by
adding plasticizers to the rigid form and can replace rubber. Flexible PVC can be used in plumbing,
electrical cable insulation, imitation leather, and flooring [1, 2].
Rigid PVC is very important type of PVC as it is used in the building construction, piping, signs,
roofing sheet material and other products [3]. The types of PVC that are more flexible serve as an
alternative to rubber and are widely used in the manufacturing of clothing, footwear/boot grades,
upholstery, electrical cable compounds, and many other everyday products [4]. PVC is thermoplastic
with a low thermal stability, so the use of PVC polymer is limited in the industry that requires high
temperature [5, 6].
Neat PVC polymer is a brittle, not flexible material with limited commercial possibilities. In
addition, the PVC processing in its raw form by using high temperature and pressure leads to severe
degradation of the PVC structure. Therefore, before using PVC, it must be treated with suitable
additives. The most crucial additives are heat stabilizers and lubricants, fillers, processing aids,
impact modifiers, pigments, and plasticizers [7, 8]. The role of additives is to improve the mechanical,
electrical, thermal, light, color, and clarity properties of PVC. The additives are blended with the PVC
via a compounding process [5, 9].
The resin of PVC is categorized by the K-value, which refers to the polymerization degree and
the molecular weight [10]. PVC that has a K-value of 57 is a low molecular weight type and it is used

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in packaging films, blow sheets, bottles and injection shapes. Whereas, PVC that has a K-value of 70-
75 is a high molecular weight type has a high mechanical property but it is processed difficultly [11].
This type of PVC is used for flooring, rigid parts, high performance cables, pipes, and profiles.
Emulsion PVC is used in the form of plastisol or latex and it is used in special applications such as
coatings, multilayer films, and battery separators [12, 13].
Not only does PVC offer the flexibility necessary for medical uses such as blood bags and
intravenous therapy (IV) containers, but it can also be relied upon for its strength and durability, even
under different temperatures and conditions. PVC can also be easily processed to make IV tubing,
thermoformed to make ‘blister’ packaging, or blow molding to make hollow rigid containers. This
versatility is a major reason why PVC is the material of choice for medical product and packaging
designers.
In this paper, we will investigate the PVC additives, which are required to improve the PVC
properties to be able to perform its functions in the dedicated applications. We will also mention the
PVC applications and the mixing techniques.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Dry Mixing

The PVC mixing is either dry mixing that uses a very high-speed mixer that blends all the
component to produce powder [14, 15].

2.2. Extruder Mixing

Extruder mixes the components using a low or high-speed extruder mixer. After that, the mixed
components are transferred through heaters to melt the mixture. Eventually, the mixed components
are cooled and cut into granules for processing [16, 17].

3. PVC Additives

3.1. Plasticizers

At normal temperature, PVC is naturally rigid. This is due to the short distances between the
molecules since there are strong intermolecular forces between them. When plasticizers are added to
PVC, the plasticizer molecules make their way between the PVC molecules, preventing the PVC
polymer molecules from getting closer to each other. Therefore, the polymer molecules are kept away
even at normal temperature and softness is achieved [13, 18].

3.1.1. Primary Plasticizers

Primary plasticizers have a good dispersion inside the PVC resin and used in a large content
such as 140-150 parts per hundred (PHR) and it is mainly used for super soft products. All plasticizers
are almost liquids and must be absorbed in a suspension resin in heated mixers. Plasticizers are mixed
with PVC resin in dry blend in high or low shear mixer [14, 15].

3.1.2. Secondary Plasticizer

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Secondary plasticizers have a limited dispersion inside the PVC resin. The main use of secondary
plasticizer is to decrease the PVC price [19]. Chlorinated Paraffin wax (CPW) is the most common
secondary plasticizers that consist of high viscous wax with a 50 % of chlorine content. The other
common secondary plasticizers are chlorinated paraffin oils (CPO) since its viscosity and plasticizing
efficiency is much better than CPW [14]. Table 1 summarizes the plasticizers types’ performance and
specialty [8, 19].

3.1.3. Plasticizing Performance

The Plasticizing performance of di, (2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate (DOP) is 1. The plasticizing
performance of any other plasticizer type is calculated as a ratio with DOP for producing a molding
of same softness [15, 20]. Table 2 shows the plasticizing efficiency for many plasticizers. For example,
if 100 PHR of DOP yields a hardness of 50, and 110 PHR of another plasticizer gives the same
hardness, the Plasticizing efficiency of the plasticizer equals:

= 100*(100/110) = 91 %.

3.1.4. Plasticizers for Medical Applications

Dioctyl Phthalate (DOP) is the most common plasticizer used in medical industry due to its high
efficiency, availability at high purity and low cost. Other plasticizers such as tri, (2-ethyl hexyl)
mellitate (TEHM, also called TOTM), n-butyrul, tri n-hexyl citrate (BTHC) and di (n-decyl), phthalate
(DnDP) is used for other medical applications such as the platelets storage [21, 22].

3.2. Stabilizers

The PVC molecule is not stable at high temperature and ultra violet light. Heating PVC leads to
the Polymer chains breaking and free the toxic hydrochloric acid gas. The released HCL causes the
PVC degradation. The PVC exposure to the UV radiations dissociate the polymer chains but its
impact is lesser than the heat degradation [22, 23].

3.2.1. Heat Stabilizers

PVC must be thermally stabilized during its processing at high temperature. Most of heat
stabilizers contain metal elements that interact with HCl and prevent PVC degradation. The most
common heat stabilizers are metal salts, soaps. Table 3 shows heat stabilizers types [24, 25].

3.2.2. Light Stabilizers

Most of mixed metal stabilizers save PVC from the UV radiation attack. DBL phosphate is a light
stabilizer that has some UV resistance properties. Light stabilizers are complex chemicals, very
expensive, and are efficient at low amount (0.1-0.3 PHR) [24].

3.3. Fillers

Fillers are inorganic, inactive materials and its main role is to decrease the PVC processing cost
and enhance the mechanical properties of PVC such as the fracture strength and impact performance
of PVC. It can be used as a pigment and improve the PVC chemical resistance. The most common
type of filler is calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide, talc, glass, and calcined clay [26, 27].
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3.3.1. Nano Fillers

Nano fillers are mixed with polymer from 1 to 10 wt. %. The most common nano fillers are nano
fibers such as glass and carbon fibers. The other types of nano fillers are nano-clays, nano-oxides,
carbon nanotubes. Nano-clays fillers is a silicate of transition metals and it is natural or synthetic
clays. Nano metal oxide such as rutile TiO2 is used as a white pigment [27, 28].

3.4. Impact Modifiers

Impact modifiers (IM) should have rubber properties such as acrylic rubber, chlorinated
polyethylene, or butadiene styrene. IM are mixed with PVC with an amount of 5-20 wt.% to give the
PVC a toughening property [29, 30].
The aim of IM is to enhance the PVC impact resistance and the role of impact modifiers
molecules is to absorb the impact energy and eliminate the fracture of the PVC product. The particle
size of IM is in the micro range [31].

3.5. Pigments

PVC pigments is a colored material that is insoluble in water generally is categorized into [32]:
 Inorganic.
 Organic.

Pigments for PVC must be thermally and light stable, have good dispersibility, and be
compatible within the formulation. Table 4 shows the different types of pigment [33, 39].

4. PVC Applications

4.1. Piping Applications

PVC has been improved for many piping applications such as exterior body trim and molding,
chemical resistant trim, gear shifter knobs, hoses, tubing, and interior console covers [14, 34].

4.2. Construction Activities

PVC has been used extensively in a wide range of construction products for more than 50 years.
The PVC strength, lightweight, and durability make PVC perfect for many applications as outlined
below [35, 36]:
 Window seals.
 Weather-strip and screen spline.
 Concrete water stops.
 Weatherable capstock for exterior trim.
 Dry wall accessories.
 Flooring.
 Roofing.
 Electrical insulators
 Sunroof

4.3. Medical Applications

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PVC is used in the medical applications for more than 50 years due to its safety, chemical
stabilization, low cost, durability, its resistance to chemical stress cracking, and biocompatibility [37,
38].

4.4. Figures, Tables and Schemes

Figure 1. Extruder components.

Table 1. Plasticizers types.

General
Family Performance of plasticizers Specialty plasticizers
purpose

Strong Low Low Low Flame

Stability
solvent temperature volatility diffusion resistance

Phthalates P S S S S S

Trimellitates S P S

Aliphatic
P
esters

Polyesters P P

Epoxides S S P

Phosphates S S P

Extenders P

miscellaneous P P P

P: Primary performance function.

S: Secondary performance function.

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Table 2. Plasticizing efficiency for many plasticizers.

Plasticizer Plasticizing efficiency

Di butyl phthalate 1.05

Di Octyl phthalate 1.00

Di iso Octyl phthalate 1.00

Di nonyl phthalate 0.98

Di Iso decyl phthalate 0.95

Table 3. Heat stabilizers types.

Not
Heat
Type Main applications recommended
stability
for
Cables, pipes, Clear
Leads Very good fittings, sleeves, application. Can
profiles. be toxic.
Transparent tubing
and sheeting, high Staining with
Tins Best
quality pipes, leads
medical.

For high heat

Cd-Zn Moderate Electrical cables
history

Leather cloth,
Nontoxic
BA-Cd Good calendared
applications
products, footwear.
Metallic Co-stabilizer with
Low Sole stabilizer
stearates lubricating action

Table 4. Pigment types.

Inorganic pigments Organic pigments

Type Color Type Color

Blue and
Ultramarine Phthalocyanines Blue, green
violets
Yellows,
Chromes Chromophthals Red, orange
orange
Reds, orange,
Cadmiums Azos Wide range
yellow

Iron oxide Brown, black Toners Wide range

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5. Conclusions

PVC is categorized into two types: rigid and flexible. Neat PVC uses is negligible and need
additives to be more appropriate for many applications such as bags, bottles, toys, construction,
petroleum pipes, and medical applications. PVC is mixed with additives through two techniques:
dry mixing or extruder mixing. PVC additives are various such as plasticizers, stabilizer, fillers,
impact modifier, and pigments. Many research is required to investigate the PVC industry and widen
the uses of PVC.

Funding: This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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