must say that modern life would be very uncomfortable without PVC.What is it for a modern economy?Details of PVC today up to 15 kg of the total weight of an average European car, this material is involved in the production of consumer goods (balls, clothes, shoes, furniture, flooring, credit cards, etc.)
Medicine for more than half a century also uses PVC.What is it can be seen by referring to numerous single-use equipment.Here you can find the packaging of tablets, tires, surgical gloves, catheters, devices for feeding containers for blood.This material is characterized by low cost, has successfully replaced the rubber and glass, easily sterilized, it can be used inside the body.
If we look at the things that are in our home, many of them are also made of PVC.What is it can be?Polyvinyl chloride is often the basis for insulation, pipes, window profiles, toys, packaging materials, mobile phones, plastic bottles, tubes for toothpaste and many others.
What determines a widespread PVC?What is it from a chemical point of view?According to the formula (-CH2-CHCl-) in degree n (degree of polymerisation) PVC is a synthetic polymer which is a core and is produced from chlorine and oil (57 and 43 per cent respectively).Production processes at less than half are dependent on supplies of oil products, which makes the release of this material is advantageous, as its price - low.
PVC in appearance is a white powdery substance with good dielectric properties.It is odorless, tasteless, insoluble in water, resistant to oxidation, poorly lit (due to chlorine in the composition), resistant to acids, mineral oils, alkalis, alcohols.When heated to 100 degrees C substance decomposes with the evolution of hydrogen chloride.
PVC Production begins with the extraction of salt solution of chlorine (by the action of electric discharge).Parallel oil extracted from ethylene (a procedure called "cracking").Thereafter, chlorine and ethylene combined yield of ethylene dichloride.In turn creates dichloride, vinyl chloride (monomer), which is then converted in the polymerization to the desired matter.To this was added various components, allowing to obtain a finished product with certain properties for the relevant industry.
PVC manufacturers use three basic methods for the polymerization of monomers block, suspension and emulsion.In this suspension are used to produce soft, semi-rigid and rigid plastics, and the emulsion - soft articles obtained through plastisols.Depending on the absence or presence of plasticizers in the composition is released, respectively unplasticized and plasticized material.The first is less resistant to low temperatures (down to minus 15 degrees C), while the second stands cooled to -60 degrees.Today, the most pressing problem with these substances is their collection and recycling.
