Natural Weathering of Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Stabilized with Epoxidized Sunflower Oil

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the influence of the weathering conditions on the degradation level of stabilized PVC. Epoxidized Sunflower oil (ESO) was used as a new biodegradable stabilizer for PVC. Flexible plasticized formulations (40% plasticizer) were realized, the natural weathering of the PVC samples was investigated. The samples were exposed in Tizi Ouzou (Algeria) for nine months. The samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in order to follow the structural changes. Moreover, the variation of the mass of the samples, the variation of density and mechanical properties (tensile and shore D hardness) were taken into account. Samples were characterized in terms of morphology by SEM. The best results were obtained with the formulation containing DINA and ESO compared to the traditional formulation containing DOP and ESO.