The ultrasonic degradation of poly(vinyl-pyrrolidone) (PVP) of different initial molecular weights was studied at a fixed temperature. The effect of solution concentration on the rate of degradation was investigated. A method of viscometry was used to study the degradation behavior and kinetic model was developed to estimate the degradation rate constant. The results were indicated that the rate of ultrasonic degradation increased with increasing molecular weight. It was found that rate constant decreases as the concentration increases. The calculated rate constants correlated in terms of inverse concentration and relative viscosity of PVP solutions. This behavior in the rate of degradation was interpreted in terms of viscosity and concentration of polymer solution. With increasing solution concentration, viscosity increases and it causes a reduction in the cavitation efficiency thus, the rate of degradation will be decreased. The experimental results show that the viscosity of polymers decreased with ultrasonic irradiation time and approached a limiting value, below which no further degradation took place. This study confirms the general assumption that the shear forces generated by the rapid motion of the solvent following cavitational collapse are responsible for the breakage of the chemical bonds within the polymer. The effect of polymer concentration can be interpreted in terms of the increase in viscosity with concentration, causing the molecules to become less mobile in solution and the velocity gradients around the collapsing bubbles to, therefore, become smaller.

Unsaturated triglyceride oil sunflower was epoxidized and characterized by chemical and spectroscopic methods. Epoxidized sunflower oil (ESO) was used as an organic thermal co-stabilizer for rigid poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) in the presence of tricalcium dicitrate (Ca3(C6H5O7)2) and mercury (II) acetate (Hg(CH3COO)2). The thermo-oxidative degradation of PVC was studied in the presence of these ternary stabilizer systems at 170, 180, 190 and 200°C in N2 atmosphere. The effects of metal carboxylate combination Ca/Hg in the absence and in the presence of epoxidized sunflower oil on static heat treatment of PVC have been studied. The formation of polyene sequences was investigated by UV-visible and FT-IR spectroscopy and by comparing viscosity data obtained in the presence and in the absence of the additives. It was found that the additives retard the rate of degradation and reduce the extent of polymer chain scission associated with the thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride). Synergistic effects were found when stabilizer was blended in 50:50 weight ratios with either. It was found that ESO exerted a stabilizing effect on the degradation of PVC. The activation energy for degraded PVC in absence of stabilizers was 38.6 kJ•mol–1 and in the presence of Ca/Hg and Ca/Hg/ESO were 53.3 and 64.7 kJ•mol–1 respectively. In order of compare the efficiency of the epoxidized sunflower oil with these metal soap stabilizers, thermal stabilities were evaluated on the basis of evolved hydrogen chloride determined by conductometry technique and degree of discoloration are discussed

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