INFLUENCE OF MOLECULAR WEIGHT ON SOME PROPERTIES OF POLY(VINYL CHLORIDE)

Several fractions obtained from a large‐scale fractionation and several unfractionated PVC polymers and blends have been processed both as rigid and plasticized compounds. The latter have been studied by stress–strain, creep, and recovery tests. The recoverable character of the creep results show that a relatively stable network must be present in the samples. The crosslink density is little influenced by molecular weight, as shown by the modulus and compliance results. On the contrary, the ultimate tensile properties depend strongly on molecular weight, which is interpreted as evidence that the stability of the crosslinks increases with increasing chain length of the polymers. Copyright © 1968 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.