Effect of some rare earth additives on the dehydro chlorination of poly(vinyl chloride)

Poly (vinyl chloride) being the most frequently used plastics has various industrial and house applications. PVC doses not burn readily, but decomposes by dehydro chlorination to give toxic and corrosive products. The release of these degradation products create crucial environmental hazards. In order to minimize this problem, various stabilizers are added to the polymeric base. Some rare earth (La, Ho, Tb, Dy and Nd) laureates were added to PVC and their degradation monitored employing thermogravimetry. The results show that these metal laureates effectively reduce the dehydro chlorination of PVC. The results are discussed with a view to establish use of such composites as environmental friendly materials. (author)