Poly(caprolactone)-based Plasticizers to reduce gas-check in PVC films

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Plasticizers are used to increase the flexibility and workability of rigid polymers like poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) for a myriad of commercial products such as wiring, cables, flooring and pool liners. For decades, di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP; often termed dioctyl phthalate (DOP)) was the most common plasticizer used in PVC formulations. However, DEHP and its metabolites, particularly its monoester, have caused negative health effects, such as being an endocrine disruptor. Recently, DEHP was banned from use in children's toys and phthalate alternatives are rapidly being offered. We developed succinate-based esters that biodegrade to non-toxic metabolites after being discarded while also performing as well or better than DEHP in blend formulations. Further, we further optimized the process using green chemistry principles, using sustainable building blocks and reducing solvent, number of process steps and catalyst concentration. These green succinate ester plasticizers worked well as primary plasticizers for PVC. However, during our previous collaborations, we discovered that poly(caprolactone) (PCL) block co-oligomers were found to be very effective as secondary plasticizers, virtually eliminating gas-check, which is a phenomenon that limits production rates where air bubbles are entrained in the film when calendaring or roll-milling. The causes are not well described in literature. Our goal is to find the fundamental mechanism for gas-check reduction in PCL-block co-oligomer/PVC blends (due to either surface tension or rheological effects). In tandem with the industrial partner, we will determine the root causes for this effect and then design a suite of PCL-based secondary plasticizers tailored to various product lines. An economic evaluation of the derived PCL plasticizers will follow in preparation of scale-up. This project has potentially enormous industrial and socio-economic implications, as costly down-time is avoided while delivering another green plasticizer to market. The innovation from this CRD will create Canadian-based intellectual property, licensing opportunities and job creation due to being first on the market with such a product.