Thermal conductivity, diffusivity and heat capacity of plasticized polyvinyl chloride

Abstract

Simple formalisms for thermal conductivity <i style=""><img src='/image/spc_char/lamda.gif' border=0> </i>, thermal diffusivity <i style="">D</i> and specific heat <i style="">C_p</i> of both linear and cross-linked amorphous polymers has been presented. These relations explain successfully the dependence of these properties on temperature and amount of plasticizer. Present study reveals that the santicizer-160 forms cross-linkage among the linear chains of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The structural transition at <i style="">T_g</i>, the anti-plasticization effect below <i style="">T_g</i> and plasticization effect above <i style="">T_g</i>, are clearly reflected in the trends of these properties. The calculated values of all the three properties for PVC plasticized with different amount of plasticizer (Santicizer-160: 10 phr, 20 phr and 30 phr) are in excellent agreement with the experimental values over a wide range of temperature, which includes glassy, leathery and rubbery regions. The maximum deviation in experimental and calculated values is less than 5% for all these properties.