Synthesis, characterization, and application of polyanisidines as efficient photostabilizers for poly(vinyl chloride) films

Abstract

Conducting polymers have great attention due to their electrical activity in π-electrons conjugation over backbone of the polymeric chain. These properties make them attractive for enormous applications. On that account, we prepared polyanisidines (PAs) derivatives ( ortho, meta, and para) by chemical oxidation process using ammonium peroxydisulfate as an initiator. The prepared PAs were characterized using various techniques. Moreover, conductivity measurements of PA derivatives showed that the ortho-derivative gave the highest value. The prepared PAs were investigated as photostabilizers for poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) films. Different PVC films were prepared in the absence and the presence of PA derivatives and they were exposed to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation for 30 days. The gel weight % for irradiated PVC films was followed as a function of irradiation time. The results revealed that the blank PVC film (free PA derivatives) was completely degraded reaching 100% gel content. PVC films contain PA derivatives showed higher photostability than PVC blank film. A comparison between the investigated PA derivatives as UV stabilizers and Chimassorb commercial UV absorber was also investigated. PA derivatives showed better efficiency as UV stabilizers than the commercial one till 288 h of UV irradiation.