Sol-gel transition in di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate-plasticized poly(vinyl chloride)

The gelation for di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)-plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) was studied by measuring time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and a flow of the solutions in test tube. It was found that for the gelation there were three regimes. At Regime I, the solution rapidly changed to a gel, and the SAXS intensity showed a peak and the peak intensity increased, keeping the peak angle constant. Applying the SAXS intensity to the kinetic analysis of the liquid-liquid phase separation, it was revealed that the spinodal decomposition proceeded to develop a periodic length of 29.9 nanometer in size, a hydrogen-bonding-type association in polymer rich phase followed, and then it induced fast gelation rate. At Regime II, the gelation slowly occurred and the SAXS intensity was not observed, suggesting that a homogeneous gel network was formed by a hydrogen-bonding. At regime III, the solution was a homogeneous sol.