The Promoting Effect of Multifunctional Groups on the Thermal and Mechanical Properties of PVC Materials

The development of PVC materials grafted with mannich base originated from myrcene (P-MAM-g, where the mannich base derived from myrcene is abbreviated as MAM) via green and effective synthetic methods is a good strategy to avoid unacceptable discoloration and deterioration of thermal and mechanical properties caused by autocatalytic dehydrochlorination (DHC) during PVC processing. In this study, MAM with double bonds, amino groups, ester groups, and phospholipid groups was introduced into the chains of PVC to improve the thermal stability of PVC. The experimental results showed that the covalent attachment of MAM to PVC enhanced both the initial and the long-term stability of PVC. The enhanced performance of P-MAM-g compared with unmo-dified PVC is attributed to the simultaneous introduction of double bonds and amino groups into the PVC struc-ture. The double bonds trapped the unstable chlorine atoms originated from the degradation of the PVC chain and reacted with the labile macromolecular radicals originated from PVC, thus inhibiting the radical degradation of the PVC chain. Furthermore, the amino groups absorbed the HCl produced in the degradation of PVC, inhibiting the adverse effects of HCl. P-MAM-g displayed better intrinsic flexibility and anti-migration ability of organic functional components compared with the control PVC materials. A possible stabilizing mechanism of the P-MAM-g was also presented.