Ethylene-butyl acrylate-carbon monoxide terpolymer as a replacement plastcisier for polyvinyl chloride

An ethylene-butyl acrylate-carbon monoxide terpolymer (EnBA-CO) was blended with two PVCs at various compositions. Several commercially available medical grade plasticised PVCs were also tested to assess the suitability of the PVC blends as replacements for the traditional PVCs. The results are also compared to previous work on effect of ethylene-vinyl acetate-carbon monoxide (EVA-CO) as the polymeric plasticiser for PVC. The tensile and flexural modulus of the blends decreased significantly with progressive increase in EnBA-CO, while maximum elongation at break and impact strength were recorded at 30-40% terpolymer content. A single glass transition temperature (T g ) between that of the PVC and EnBA-CO components was recorded (DMTA), indicating complete miscibility over the range of concentrations studied. Rheological analysis showed a decrease in shear viscosity with increasing EnBA-CO content. The properties of most of the PVC/EnBA-CO blends were similar to those of commercially available plasticised PVCs.