Open Access

ARTICLE

A Brand-New Concept of PVC-Migration Resistant Plasticizer—Dioctyl Oligobutylene Terephthalate (DOOBT)

Ke Li^1,2,3,4,5,*, Xiaoan Nie^1,2,3,4,5, Jie Chen^1,2,3,4,5
1 Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, CAF, Nanjing, China
2 Key Lab. of Biomass Energy and Material, Nanjing, China
3 Key Lab. of Chemical Engineering of Forest Products, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Nanjing, China
4 National Engineering Research Center of Low-Carbon Processing and Utilization of Forest Biomass, Nanjing, China
5 Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing, China
* Corresponding Author: Ke Li. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in Polymer Materials: Multifunctional Design and Sustainable Applications)

Journal of Polymer Materials https://doi.org/10.32604/jpm.2026.084082

Received 16 April 2026; Accepted 24 July 2026; Published online 04 September 2026

Abstract

A novel plasticiser, Dioctyl Oligobutylene Terephthalate (DOOBT), was synthesised via esterification using p-Phthalic acid, 1,4-Butanediol, and 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol. Subsequently, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) films plasticised with DOOBT were prepared for characterisation. The chemical structure and properties of DOOBT and the resulting PVC films were analysed using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermogravimetry (TG), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a universal testing machine. The results showed that DOOBT is a polyester compound with an extremely low polymerisation degree. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of DOOBT-plasticized PVC products decreased significantly from 82.13°C to 23.95°C. More importantly, DOOBT exhibited superior anti-migration and anti-volatilisation properties compared to the conventional plasticiser dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP). Specifically, the migration rate of DOOBT from PVC into ethanol was 37% lower than that of DOTP, and its migration rate into soybean oil was only 84% of DOTP’s. Furthermore, the volatilisation rate of DOOBT-plasticized PVC was merely 41% of that of the DOTP-plasticized counterpart. These findings comprehensively demonstrate the excellent plasticising efficacy and outstanding migration resistance of DOOBT. A theoretical explanation for its dual functionality is provided, offering a solid foundation for the development of high-performance, environmentally friendly plasticisers with permanent anti-migration properties.

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Keywords

Plasticizer; PVC; migration resistant; oligomer; mechanism

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