Making PVC
Making PVC - Vinyl Council Australia
| Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a chlorinated hydrocarbon polymer. It's basic building blocks are chlorine, carbon and hydrogen. These elements are obtained from two hydrocarbons, sea salt or sodium chloride (NaCl) and crude oil or natural gas. Invented in 1872, PVC was nothing more than a laboratory curiosity at first. No-one really knew what to do with it. In fact, the first PVC wasn't very good. When heated or exposed to sunlight, the molecules broke up and an acidic gas was given off. Decades later, scientists discovered that adding certain chemicals stablised the polymer against light and heat. Golf balls were early PVC successes. During Word War II, when rubber was in short supply, PVC was used as insulation for the wires in electrical cables. Since then PVC has replaced rubber as insulation and found many other applications. |
