The development history of polyvinyl chloride

As one of the indispensable raw materials for the production of PVC flooring, polyvinyl chloride plays a pivotal role in the production of PVC flooring. After all, it is the main raw material of PVC flooring.

So what is the history behind the raw material of PVC? Let's find out through this article!

As early as 1835, the substance of polyvinyl chloride was discovered by the American V. Regnio. How is PVC produced? It turns out that polyvinyl chloride is a white solid when it is irradiated with sunlight. This should be the earliest time that PVC was discovered, and in later times, PVC was also discovered by others.

In the 19th century, polyvinyl chloride was also discovered twice, one was the earliest discovery mentioned above, and the other was Eugen Baumann, this time in 1872.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russian chemist Ivan Ostromislensky and German Griesheim-Elektron chemist Fritz Klatte tried to use PVC for commercial purposes at the same time. It is worth mentioning that in 1912, Fritz Klatte synthesized PVC, And a patent was applied for in Germany, but no suitable product could be developed before the patent expired.

Time came to 1926. In 1926, Waldo Semon of B.F. Goodrich Company of the United States synthesized PVC and applied for a patent in the United States. Waldo Semon and the B.F. Goodrich Company developed a method of plasticizing PVC by adding various additives in 1926, making it a more flexible and easier-to-process material and soon found widespread commercial use.

In 1914, it was found that the use of organic peroxides could help to accelerate the polymerization of vinyl chloride. In 1931, German companies adopted the emulsion polymerization method to realize the industrial production of polyvinyl chloride.

In 1933, W.L. Simon proposed to use high boiling point solvent and tricresyl phosphate to heat and mix with PVC, which can be processed into soft polyvinyl chloride products. At this moment, the practicalization of PVC has made a real breakthrough.

The British Bonemen Chemical Industry Company, the United Carbide Company and the Goodrich Chemical Company of the United States developed the suspension polymerization of vinyl chloride and the processing application of PVC almost at the same time in 1936.

In 1956, the French Saint-Gobain company developed the bulk polymerization method, which can simplify the production process and reduce energy consumption.

In 1983, the world's total consumption was about 11.1Mt, and the total production capacity was about 17.6Mt; this was the second largest plastic variety after polyethylene production, accounting for about 15% of the total plastic production.

China's self-designed PVC production unit was put into trial production in Liaoning Jinxi Chemical Plant in 1956, and the 3kt unit was formally industrialized in 1958. In 1984, the output reached 530.9kt.