Plasticizer

A plasticizer is an additive that increases a polymer’s flexibility by reducing interactions between its chains. It commonly lowers stiffness and glass-transition temperature.

Glass transition: A temperature range where an amorphous material shifts between hard, glassy behavior and soft, rubbery behavior. Plasticizers often lower this transition, allowing polymers to move more freely at lower temperatures.
Polymer: A substance composed of molecules built from many repeating molecular units. Plasticizers are added to polymers to change their mechanical behavior.
Polyvinyl chloride: A synthetic polymer made from vinyl chloride monomers and widely used in construction and consumer products. Plasticizers make otherwise rigid PVC flexible for products such as cable insulation.
Internal plasticization: A polymer-softening strategy that builds flexible groups into the polymer’s molecular structure. Unlike conventional plasticizers, it does not rely on a separate mobile additive.
Free volume: The unoccupied space between molecules in a material that permits molecular motion. Many plasticizers increase the space available for polymer-chain movement.
Intermolecular force: An attraction or repulsion between molecules that is weaker than a covalent or ionic bond. Plasticizers reduce or disrupt attractions that restrict polymer-chain motion.
Cellulose acetate: A cellulose-derived thermoplastic made by replacing some cellulose hydroxyl groups with acetate groups. Plasticizers help make this polymer processable and less brittle.
Copolymer: A polymer containing two or more different kinds of repeating units. Flexible comonomers can soften a polymer without adding a separate plasticizer.
Polymer chain: A long molecule made of repeating structural units joined by covalent bonds. Plasticizer molecules alter the mobility and interactions of these chains.
Polymer blend: A material containing a mixture of two or more polymers. Plasticizers can behave like low-molecular-weight components blended into a polymer.

Linked from 13 pages