Water-soluble plasticizer

Use Solvent for dyestuffs, intermediate for producing dyestuffs, pharmaceuticals, rubber chemicals, flotation agents, insecticides, plasticizers, water-soluble reducing agent, biochemical reagent, PVC stabilizers, agricultural chemicals, textile auxiliary. 

More recently, in the last 25 years, it has become increasingly apparent that, in addition to the major commodity synthetic plastics, water-soluble commodity and specialty polymers and plastics, such as poly(acrylic acids), polyacrylamide, poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(aIkylene oxides), and even some modified natural polymers, for example, cellulosics and starch, may potentially contribute to environmental problems and should also be targets for biodegradable substitutes. 

Polyoxyethylene. Synthetic polymers with a variety of compositionaHy similar chemical stmctures are as follows. Based on polarity, poly(oxymethylene) (1) would be expected to be water soluble. It is a highly crystalline polymer used in engineering plastics, but it is not water-soluble (see... 

Environmental Effects of Plasticizers. Measurement of the effect of phthalates on environmental species is difficult because standard test methods are not designed to deal with poorly water-soluble substances. Eor this reason a number of early studies are flawed and their results should be disregarded in favor of more recent investigations where these difficulties have been overcome. 

For water-soluble polymers, there is a weU-estabUshed disposal infrastmcture, with the widely available wastewater treatment plants, whereas plastics being developed for composting require large-scale implementation of a composting infrastmcture. This fact will certainly influence the rate of their acceptance. 

There have been numerous communications on the subject of biodegradation test methods, including aerobic compost (30), anaerobic bioreactor (31), general methodology and future directions (32—34), and a fine review article (24). ASTM (22) and MITI (35) have also set forth standard testing protocols for plastics, as shown in Table 2, whereas OECD test methods (29) are more suited to water-soluble polymers. 

Functional derivatives of polyethylene, particularly poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(acryLic acid) and derivatives, have received attention because of their water-solubility and disposal iato the aqueous environment. Poly(vinyl alcohol) is used ia a wide variety of appHcations, including textiles, paper, plastic films, etc, and poly(acryLic acid) is widely used ia detergents as a builder, a super-absorbent for diapers and feminine hygiene products, for water treatment, ia thickeners, as pigment dispersant, etc (see Vinyl polymers, vinyl alcohol polymers). 

TrimeUitic anhydride is converted to PVC plasticizers, polyesters, water-soluble alkyd coatings, and polyamide—imide resias. The trimellitate plasticizers have a lower volatility than those derived from phthaUc anhydride (see Plasticizers). 

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