DEGRADATION KINETICS OF POLYVINYL CHLORIDE STABILIZED WITH PALMITIC ACID-METALLIC MIXTURES

• Main Author: Newman Nainggolan, Stevanus
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/81917
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a polymer with wide applications in industries because of its physical and chemical properties. PVC is the third most used polymer in the world after polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). The disadvantage of using PVC is that dehydrochlorination may happen at low temperatures, which may lead to the material being brittle and hard to mold. Hence, thermal stabilizers need to be added to PVC resin to avoid thermal degradation. The Laboratory of Process Industry Product Engineering in the Chemical Engineering Department of ITB has developed a palmitic mix metal stabilizer, which is a stabilizer created from a mixture of Ca and Zn metals with Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD) as the source of carboxylate acid. To evaluate the effect of adding thermal stabilizers in the formulation, processing, and recycling stages of PVC, it is necessary to determine the kinetic parameters of the thermal degradation reaction of PVC stabilized by the mixed metal palmat thermal stabilizer. PVC samples were stabilized by 8 different types of palmate stabilizers with dosage and ratio variations. The degradation of PVC was tested at three different temperatures, namely 170 °C, 180 °C, and 190 °C. The degradation rate of PVC was calculated using a conductivity meter, and the activation energy and Arhennius constant of the degradation reaction were predicted using the Avrami-Erofeev kinetics model. Based on the experiment, the activation energy of the thermal degradation reaction of unstabilized PVC was 124.4 kJ/mol. Meanwhile, the PVC stabilized with the palmate metal blend thermal stabilizers was 128.8 kJ/mol to 167.2 kJ/mol, indicating an increase in the long-term stability of PVC. The optimal ratio of calcium and zinc in stabilizers for the long-term stability of PVC was 4:1 with an activation energy of 146.7 kJ/mol. The optimal amount of costabilizers is equal to the amount of zinc carboxylate, with an activation energy of 167.2 kJ/mol. The In (A) value of pure PVC was found to be 22.4 while the stabilized PVC had a In A range of 23.7-32.8.