Mechanical And Durability Properties of Soft PVC Plasticized by Cardanol Derivatives

This work is aimed to study the plasticizing effectiveness of different cardanol derivatives, characterized by different yields of epoxidation, for the production of soil: PVC. The properties of the cardanol derived plasticizers were compared to the properties of commercial plasticizers, both phthalates and natural derived. Mechanical properties of the developed plasticizers were shown to be comparable to those of the phthalate, and in many cases better than those of biobased commercial plasticizers. The efficiency of the plasticizers, were significantly improved by increasing the yield of epoxidation. Also, mechanical properties performed after ageing showed the excellent stability of the properties of the cardanol derived plasticizer characterized by the higher yield of epoxidation. Evaluation of the property retention index after ageing indicated that such plasticizers showed an improved stability of properties compared to other commercial plasticizer. The results obtained highlight the relevance of an high conversion of the double bonds into epoxies in order to produce high quality plasticizers.