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Author: Subject: Phthalate from PVC tubing and wire insulation
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[*] posted on 11-8-2013 at 05:05
Phthalate from PVC tubing and wire insulation


I added a small amount of cut PVC tubing into the test tube:


<img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwAPP_rfaRJmUR6EH_CbujI6SZOsSUR8o2f30DJ-LQLuxFyohU" />


And into another of cut up wire insulation:


<img src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSppJJstQkysvJOcw_iI7FSugq3M4LuKLdEcICDFgRgfDms_7iS" />



Both were covered with ethanol/isopropanol mixture for few days and after that the solution was decanted.

Added water slowly and only thing which formed was white sticky precipitate of PVC (it is somewhat soluble in alcohol from what i heard) and no layer of phthalate esters at all.


Why didn't I manage to make at least a very small amount of this stuff?

[Edited on 11-8-2013 by Random]

<!-- bfesser_edit_tag -->[<a href="u2u.php?action=send&username=bfesser">bfesser</a>: fixed broken image(s), BBCode &rarr; HTML]

[Edited on 11.8.13 by bfesser]
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smile.gif posted on 11-8-2013 at 06:43
This should help...



Random... Firstly, you need to keep in mind that the ester you are trying to obtain is not made but extracted, from the PVC. You need to have the right conditions for this to work not to mention the correct substrate... Seeing the PVC tubing you used I definitely think that type of tubing would contain phthalate esters however I'm not certain about the wire insulation (I might be wrong there). However, out of the options you stated, your best bet is to go with the PVC tubing.

Secondly, in an extraction there are key things to keep in mind surface area, the amount of the compound contained in the material, the solubility of the compound to be extracted (in the chosen solvent medium), and also most crucial the temperature of the system during extraction.

So according to the information posted (going with your best bet here) you cut up some PVC tubing and covered it with an ethanol/isopropanol mixture for a few days. The problem there is that even though the phthalate esters would most likely be soluble in the EtOH/IPrOH mixture (I would just use the isopropyl alcohol) since no heating was specified (I have to assume that this was done at room temperature) all you would have done is leech miniscule amounts of the phthalate esters (very slowly) into the alcohol, not to mention, some of the PVC itself. So your best bet is to reflux the alcohol. This should extract the ester at a more appreciable rate to give a much better yield.

Also.... some members on this forum have already done the extraction of phthalate esters and as such there is more information, and they use vinyl gloves which would more than likely contain much larger quantities of the phthalate ester plasticizer, compared to the tubing used.

Here are some links to YouTube videos by UnintentionalChaos that can help:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cooRCFa3J3s (Part 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qESSbS2EM-I (Part 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlf4kbs0y7Q (Part 3)

Thank You......




"Discoveries are not made by idly sitting around and hoping something interesting might happen; they are made by getting out there and doing something to push the results and odds in your favour." "Chemistry always works... just not always in the way you want."
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[*] posted on 13-8-2013 at 19:05


Actually almost same results were obtained with both types of pvc material. I think after I put them out of the solvent, they were somewhat more crunchy.

It was done on room temperature since I don't have reflux condenser. I was thinking if something is extracted with reflux condenser at about 70 celsius I could accomplish the same at 33 celsius (it was pretty hot these days) and few days of time. But I guess that's not right?

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