Abstract
The worldwide regulatory demand for the elimination of non-phthalate compounds for poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) plasticization has intensified the search for alternatives. Concomitantly, sustainability concerns have highlighted sugar-based 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid as one key renewable-chemical for the development of several products, namely di(2-ethylhexyl) 2,5-furandicarboxylate (DEHF) plasticizer. This study addresses the use of DEHF under a realistic scenario of the co-existence of both DEHF and entirely fossil-based plasticizers. More precisely, original PVC blends using mixtures of non-toxic DEHF and di(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate ester (DEHT) were designed. The detailed structural, thermal, and mechanical characterization of these materials showed that they all have a set of interesting properties that are compatible with those of commercial DEHT, namely a low glass transition (19.2–23.8 °C) and enhanced elongation at break (up to 330%). Importantly, migration tests under different daily situations, such as for example exudation from food/beverages packages and medical blood bags, reveal very low weight loss percentages. For example, in both distilled water and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution, weight loss does not exceed ca. 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. Viability tests show, for the first time, that up to 500 μM of DEHF, a promising cytotoxic profile is observed, as well as for DEHT. Overall, this study demonstrates that the combination of DEHF and DEHT plasticizers result in a noticeable plasticized PVC with an increased green content with promising cytotoxic results.
Highlights
IntroductionPoly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is a thermoplastic polymer known since the XIX century, but today it is still one of the most widely used thermoplastic polymers in respect to worldwide plastic consumption
Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is a thermoplastic polymer known since the XIX century, but today it is still one of the most widely used thermoplastic polymers in respect to worldwide plastic consumption.according to a recent market study [1], in 2016, over 42 million tons of PVC were consumed, corresponding to over 16% of total plastics demand, and it is continuously growing
These plasticizers were chosen due to the promising properties of the DEHF-PVC blends [18,19], as well as because di(2-ethylhexyl) terephthalate ester (DEHT) is a commercial plasticizer with low toxicity [6]
Summary
Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is a thermoplastic polymer known since the XIX century, but today it is still one of the most widely used thermoplastic polymers in respect to worldwide plastic consumption. In recent years, motivated by increasing attention to sustainability awareness and concerns regarding the massive use of petroleum-based products [9] (including plasticizers) has called for a paradigm shift towards the development of renewable-based ones, or at least partially renewable ones In this vein, several alternatives to DEHT and toxic DEHP have been disclosed [10,11], namely tung oil- [12,13], cardanol- [14,15], poly(caprolactone)- [10], or poly(hexane succinate)-based [11] plasticizers. Previous studies on PVC-DEHF blends (between 10–50 phr of plasticizer) were shown to have promising elongation at the break within 57%–249% (slightly lower than DEHP), a Tg between 1–59 ◦ C; to be thermally stable up to 188–225 ◦ C; and the migration in hexane was at most around 9% [19] Despite these relatively promising mechanical and thermal properties, some important ones like. In this study, for the first time, the cytotoxicity of DEHF was evaluated in terms of cell viability tests in order to foresee its wide application as a benign PVC plasticizer
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