Influence of molecular weight on some rheological properties of plasticized polyvinylchloride

Conclusions

From an overall analysis of the above results it appears that the rheological properties of plasticized PVC are governed, below about 200 °C, not only by the usual parameters (composition, temperature, molecular weight) but also by the crystallinity of the polymer. Recent estimations of the crystallinity degree in commercial PVC samples vary from 3% (45) to about 10% (46), the actual value depending on the thermal history of the sample.

Apparently even small values of the crystallinity degree can affect rather strongly the rheological behaviour of plasticized PVC in the rubbery and flow regions.

For the fractions here investigated, the fractional precipitation procedure used to carry out the separation (1) leads probably to a fractionation based not only on molecular weight but also on stereoregularity (47), the result being that the fractions precipitated firstly are more polydisperse and more crystallizable. In dilute solution, they give easily aggregates (1), stable up to relatively high temperatures (2).

The dynamic-mechanical data discussed above (fig. 1) as well as the anomalies presented by the rheological results (fig. 7 to 12) can be therefore explained on the basis of a model in which supermolecular structures linked together by crystalline bonds are present in the samples.

The marked dependence of PVC mechanical properties on the annealing temperature described recently byAndrews andKazama (48) seems to give considerable support to such a model.