Modification of PVC With NBR

Chapter 3
MODIFICATION OF PVC WITH NBR
P. W. MILNER
Goodyear Chemicals Europe, Les Viis, France
1 INTRODUCTION
The growth in the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has been phenomenal
since Semon 1,2 demonstrated that PVC could be processed and converted
into a product having rubbery characteristics by mixing it with high-
boiling-point esters such as tritolyl phosphate and fluxing the resultant
blend by heating. Before this, however, the rigid polymer, which was first
reported by Baumann 3 in 1872, had not been commercially exploited to any
great extent, though work had been carried out by several companies to
produce an internally plasticised resin based on vinyl acetate as a
comonomer 4 - 6 in order to facilitate processing.
Following the discovery of the action of ester plasticisers, the outbreak of
the Second World War gave the required impetus to industry, which found
out that plasticised PVC could be used to replace vulcanised rubber in
certain applications, particularly in electrical insulations where the added
advantage of its flame resistance made it the ideal product for military use.
It was only after the war that the development of new products for the
consumer market grew and the industry really mushroomed.
It is estimated that 85% of the PVC usage is in the plasticised form and
the factors responsible for its rapid growth are considered to be: (a) low
cost; (b) the ability to be compounded to meet a wide range of final
application properties (both solid and blown); (c) good chemical resistance
and weathering properties; and (d) the ability to be processed by a wide
variety of techniques (including calendering, extrusion, injection, blow and
compression moulding, coating and impregnation using latices and
solutions).
99
A. Whelan et al. (eds.), Developments in Plastics Technology—4
© Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd 1989
100 P. W. MILNER
The ability of PVC to be compounded with plasticisers and fillers makes

it unique amongst thermoplastics in that the initial properties of the resin
can be changed to give compounds suitable for a wide variety of final
products. It is this characteristic that has led to the use of acrylonitrile-
butadiene copolymers (nitrile rubbers) as modifiers for PVc. It has been
reported 7 that as early as 1938 efforts were being made in Germany to
market nitrile rubber (NBR) as a plasticiser for PVc.
This chapter reviews the modification of PVC with NBR from both the
theoretical and the practical points of view.
2 MODIFICATION OF PVC 7 - 11
Rigid PVC compounds have second-order transition points (~) above the
normal temperature at which the products are used and may therefore
undergo brittle fracture when subjected to impact. This has limited their use
in certain critical applications and resulted in the development of a wide
range of impact improvers.
2.1 Use of Impact Modifiers for Rigid Compounds

Many of these impact modifiers have a glass transition temperature below
room temperature, i.e. they are rubbery, and when added to the PVC
compound in concentrations up to 10% can increase the impact strength
20- to 30-fold. Impact modifiers are available with varying compositions
but acrylonitrile-butadiene--styrene (ABS) and methyl methacrylate-
styrene-butadiene (MBS) terpolymers are the most widely used. Acrylo-
nitrile-butadiene (NBR) copolymers have not as yet found wide use as
modifiers for rigid PVC, though experimentation is ongoing.
2.2 Use of Rubber Modifiers for Flexible Compounds

It is, however, with flexible PVC compositions that acrylonitrile-butadiene
(NBR) copolymers have found increasing utilisation as property modifiers.
They have become even more commercially and technically attractive due
to their introduction in powder form, which allows them to be processed in
low-energy, high-speed dry blenders rather than in the costly high-energy
consuming internal mixers needed for mixing conventional bale rubber (see
Section 7.1).
Whereas rigid PVC has only one major defect, i.e. impact resistance,

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Chapter 3

MODIFICATION OF PVC WITH NBR

The ability of PVC to be compounded with plasticisers and fillers makes

2.1 Use of Impact Modifiers for Rigid Compounds

2.2 Use of Rubber Modifiers for Flexible Compounds

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