Polyvinyl chloride solubility parameter

Intractable polymers, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), may be flexibilized, to some extent, by the formation of copolymers, such as the copolymers of vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate or octyl acrylate, or by the addition of nonvolatile low-molecular-weight compounds (plasticizers) having solubility parameters similar to those of the polymer. Thus PVC is plasticized by the addition of dioctyl phthalate. The flexibility of these products is proportional to the amount of plasticizer added. Copolymers, such as the vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, require less plasticizer to obtain the same degree of flexibility. 

In addition to polymer content additives, and temperature, the nature of the solvent can have a marked influence on the transport properties of the resulting membrane. Eirich et al9 discovered that regardless of the nature of the polymer, the highest porosity membranes were made from casting solutions utilizing solvents with high solubility parameters. Eirich investigated cellulose acetate, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene difluoride, polycarbonate, polymethyl methacrylate, polyacrylonitrile, and polyacrylonitrile/polyvinyl... 

Density and solubility parameter as a function of chain length for (a) polyethylene oxide (PEO) and (b) polyvinyl chloride (PVC). (From Luo, Z. L., and Jiang, J. W. 2010. Molecular dynamics and dissipative particle dynamics simulations for the miscibility of poly(ethylene oxide)/ poly(vinyl chloride) blends. Polymer 51 291-299.)... 

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