Nontoxic bio-plasticizers for PVC as replacements for conventional toxic plasticizers

Stretched PVC film samples were created to compare the performance of toxic and non-toxic plasticizers. The reference films were produced with ditridecyl phthalate and trinonyl benzene-1,2,4-tricarboxylate. Comparable films were created using non-toxic plasticizers, hydrogenated castor oil, epoxidized soybean oil, and a mixture of both. The hydrogenated castor oil is a mixture of glycerin acetates and acetic acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids while epoxidized soybean oil is a plasticizer employed in toy and childcare applications. Plasticizer migration, tensile properties and dynamic friction were determined and compared. The combination of hydrogenated castor oil and epoxidized soybean oil based plasticizers shows comparable mechanical performance of that PVC to PVC with conventional toxic plasticizers.