Properties of Nanoparticles Filled Soft Poly(vinyl chloride) Composites Including Antistatic Plasticizer

Nanoparticles (NP) filled permanently antistatic poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) composites, constituted of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and antistatic plasticizer (AP) which included bis[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]phthalate doped with sodium perchlorate (NaClO4), were prepared in a Haaka torque rheometer. Surface resistivity measurement, mechanical test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation, and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA)-differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis were used to investigate the comprehensive properties of PVC/AP/NP (100/40/x) (A40/NP) and PVC/AP/DBP/NP (100/40/40/x) (A80/NP) composites. The results demonstrated that the surface resistivity of A40/NP composites was lower than that of pure A40 composites at a humidity of 60% and 0.1% as the nano SiO2 or TiO2 content is 2 phr, respectively. Moreover, the surface resistivity of A40 composites was decreased by about half an order of magnitude even at the humidity of 0.1% when 2 phr of NP was added. The surface resistivity of A80/NP composites achieved the optimum value as the SiO2 and TiO2 content were 1 phr and 2 phr, respectively. Because the DBP functioned as small molecule plasticizer which endowed PVC composites with comparatively large free volume, the surface resistivity of A80/NP composites is much lower than that of A40/NP composites. The tensile strength and elongation at break of A40/NP (100/2) and A80/NP (100/2) were increased to some extent with respect to pure PVC/AP composites. DSC-TGA analysis and rheological properties demonstrated that NP filled PVC composites processed good thermostability and thermoprocessability. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 127: 3221-3227, 2013