Behavior and products of mechano-chemical dechlorination of polyvinyl chloride and poly (vinylidene chloride)

The mechano-chemical (MC) dechlorination of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) was performed by mechanical milling PVC/PVDC powder with zinc powder in a planetary ball mill, and the products of dechlorination were characterized by Infrared spectra (IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The experimental results show that PVC/PVDC can be easily dechlorinated by milling with zinc powder, and formed various kinds of inorganic and organic products. Inorganic compounds included Zn 2OCl 2·2H 2O, Zn 5(OH) 8Cl 2·H 2O etc., and organic products involved diamond-like carbon, carbyne fragment, polyacetylene etc. Organic products formed following the paths of dechlorination, dehydrochlorination, crosslink, and oxidation. The mechano-chemical dechlorination process of PVC/PVDC may be an effective approach for carbyne synthesizing in the appropriate condition.