Thermal stabilizers for poly(vinyl chloride): A review

Poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is one of the most important commercial plastic materials, but it is thermally unstable at processing temperature. Processing of PVC at elevated temperatures requires the use of thermal stabilizers. Widely used thermal stabilizers for PVC incorporate toxic heavy metal and organo-tin compounds that have been severely criticized based on environmental concern. In order to address this issue, several organic and inorganic compounds that are compatible with the polymer had been investigated. When introduced at relatively low amount, they function as excellent thermal stabilizers for PVC. The compounds function as primary and secondary stabilizers and also as co-stabilizers. These classes of chemical compounds would lead to ideal PVC thermal stabilizers that could be termed “green thermal stabilizers”.