The influence of organic diluents and solvents on the stability of PVC plastisol water dispersions

The work presents the research, the aim of which is to specify the influence of organic diluents and solvents such as xylene, toluene, n-butyl acetate and butanol as well as cyclohexanone on the stability of water dispersions of the PVC plastisol containing various surface-active agents (SAA). The applied surfactants were characterised by a specific ethoxylation number, molecular mass, the Hildebrand parameter, hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance, surface activity, the limiting viscosity number, the Haller interaction constant, the limiting equivalent conductivity and the Kohlrausch-Onsager equation "b" constant. Basing on the molar refraction and the Hildebrand parameter, the interactions between the plastisol constituents and the constituents of water dispersions of the PVC plastisol were established. The sedimentation tests on the PVC plastisol water dispersions stabilized by various surface-active agents with an organic diluent or solvent added indicated that the addition resulted in the dispergation yield, a reduction in the PVC plastisol molecular size in water dispersion and the increased Huggins interaction constant, showing both surface lyophilisation and higher adsorption of surface-active agents.