(plasticised)
(unplasticised)
Acronym and details: PVC
Group: thermoplastic
Developed: known from 1870 but suitable plasticisers not discovered until 1933; wide use from 1940s, ongoing
Trade names:
Manufacturing process: all thermoplastic processes
Cost: low
Colour: any
Transparency: transparent to opaque
Rigidity: basically rigid but made soft with the use of plasticisers
Feel: varies, can be sticky
Smell: none
Other: in flexible form scratches and indents with fingernail
Typical uses: shiny leather-like fabric; fashion belts; flexible toys; inflatable furniture; cables e.g. computers and other electrical items; credit cards; blood bags; flooring; in unplasticised form: guttering, window frames, flooring; as co-polymer LP gramophone records from 1952
Degradation: yellowing and darkening; migration of additives to the surface creating either a bloom or sticky surface, which may lead to embrittlement.