Influence of copper chloride and potassium iodide mixture in poly(vinyl chloride) exposed to gamma irradiation

Samples of commercial PVC containing a salt mixture of CuCl2/KI (PVC-salt) were investigated. The samples were irradiated with gamma radiation (Co-60) at dose 25 kGy. PVC and PVC-salt system showed a decrease in viscosity molar mass values on irradiated samples reflecting the main chain random scissions effect. However the PVC-salt at 0.5 wt% concentration showed no significant degradation index value. This result suggests that salt keeps the good radiolytic stabilization behavior of gamma-irradiated PVC. The CuCl2/KI mixture at 0.5 wt% in the PVC matrix also influenced the thermal behavior of the polymer increasing the maximum thermal degradation temperature in 42 degrees C. In addition, the salt mixture influences significantly the Young's Modulus of PVC increasing the rigidity of polymer. Specific interactions between PVC and CuCl2/KI mixture were observed in the FT-IR spectra. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.