The influence of poly(ethylene glycol) on thermal properties of poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(ethylene oxide) blends

The influence of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) addition on thermal characteristics and thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PVC/PEO) blends was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic thermogravimetry. The thermal degradation characteristics of PEO remain unchanged upon PEG addition, while for all other investigated blends their values decreased, particularly at higher PVC content. Kinetic analysis of the non-isothermal degradation of investigated PVC/PEO/PEG blends was performed using isoconversional Friedman (FR) method in combination with the multivariate non-linear regression method. The PEG addition lowers the values of the activation energies of PVC/PEO blends. The kinetic analysis indicated four-stage degradation mechanism for all investigated blends.