A new organic zinc thermal stabilizer containing two kinds of anions with excellent thermal stability on polyvinyl chloride by multistep substitution

Abstract

AbstractA new kind of highly efficient organic zinc thermal stabilizer for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), zinc arginine stearate [Zn(Arg)(St)], is designed by introducing the arginine and stearate to the same zinc atoms to regulate the binding energy between anions and cation. Gaussian soft is used to calculate the binding energy. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectra, elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry show that Zn(Arg)(St) has been successfully synthesized. Zn(Arg)(St) stabilized PVC displays excellent Congo red, static and dynamic thermal stability time, especially the excellent initial whiteness and whiteness retention time. The thermal stability mechanism of Zn(Arg)(St) attributes to the different binding energy between the two anions and zinc cation, which results in Zn(Arg)(St) continuously replacing the unstable chlorine atoms step by step by Arg and St anions. Moreover, the amino group in Arg could complex ZnCl2 to inhibit the “zinc burning” effect, and the guanidine group could absorb HCl to inhibit the “autocatalytic effect” of HCl. In addition, Zn(Arg)(St) has a remarkable lubrication effect, which also enhances the thermal stability of PVC. Thus, Zn(Arg)(St) is an environmentally friendly thermal stabilizer for PVC with an excellent thermal stability effect. Importantly, this work also proposes a new method to design highly efficient thermal stabilizers for PVC.