Feasibility study of water as thinner for polyvinyl chloride plastisol

Abstract

AbstractIn the traditional formula of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gloves, the diluent of PVC plastisol is usually organic solvent, which causes serious environmental pollution during the molding process. The aim of this study was to develop a low viscosity PVC plastisol emulsion (PDE) using water as a thinner by blending PVC emulsion (PVCE) with diisononyl phthalate (DINP) emulsion. DINP emulsion (DINPE) was prepared by a compound emulsifier of polyoxyethylene octyl phenol ether‐10 and sorbitan monooleate. The effects of compound emulsifier concentration on the stability and microstructure of DINPE were investigated. The results showed that the optimal compound emulsifier concentration of DINPE was 10 wt%. In addition, the PDE obtained by blending exhibited a relatively uniform unimodal droplet size distribution. The steady state data revealed that the emulsions were shear‐thinning pseudoplastic liquid. The effect of solid content and temperature on the apparent viscosity of PDE were also evaluated. The mechanical spectra obtained suggested the presence of weak gel structure in the PDE. The mechanical test results showed that the tensile strength and elongation at break of PVC film obtained by PDE were 12.62 MPa and 310.31%, respectively. This study demonstrated that water was effective in reducing the viscosity of PVC plastisol, which would promote the application of water thinner in glove production.