Study on plasticization and flame retardancy of phosphorus-containing branched polybutylene adipate in poly (vinyl chloride)

Abstract

The antimigration polyester plasticizers have been attracting more attention in recent years due to the environmental pollution problems. Therefore, in order to decrease the impacts on environment, the linear polybutylene adipate (LPBA) with low molecular weight was synthesized by melting polycondensation and using adipic acid and 1,4-butanediol (BD) as raw materials, then three hydroxymethyl phosphine oxide (THPO) as a branching agent was introduced into LPBA to prepare a phosphorus-containing branched polybutylene adipate (BPBAP), and its structures was well-characterized. For the purpose of studying their plasticizing effects, the BPBAP was blended with poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) to obtain a composite material. The results of antimigration testing demonstrate that the BPBAP had better antimigration properties than other plasticizers. Meanwhile, the mechanical property data indicate that the plasticizing effect of BPBAP for PVC is better than that of LPBA. The elongation at break of PVC/BPBAP3 (amount of 3.0% THPO as branching agent) reaches 152%, which is 30.7% higher than that of PVC/LPBA. The low-temperature toughness of PVC/BPBAP3 is 26.9% higher than that of PVC/LPBA. Finally, about fire-resisted performance, PVC/BPBAP5 (amount of 5.0% THPO as branching agent) is 34.1% lower than that of PVC/dioctyl phthalate for peak heat release rate. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020, 137, 48335.