Effect of weathering on some properties of polyvinyl chloride/lignin blends

Polymer Mends consisting of unplasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (UPVC), and indulin lignin (IL) were prepared by compression molding. The original UPVC formulation was free from titanium dioxide TiO2. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) were used to investigate the morphology of the results. The durability of the blends was also evaluated by comparing the mechanical and the thermal properties of the blended and unblended PVC containing 10 per hundred parts (phr) of TiO2 before and after artificial weathering. The thermal testing results showed a high degree of mixing of the two polymers. The glass transition temperature (T-g) of the blends was exhibited by one major transition between the two T-g's of PVC and lignin. There was an increase in tensile strength and decrease in elongation at yield of PVC by lignin addition. Lignin addition did not affect the tensile strain properties of PVC after weathering. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. AU rights reserved.