Poly(vinyl chloride) degradation : identification of acidic degradation products, their emission rates, and implications for heritage collections

Pok, Špela (author), Kralj Cigić, Irena (author), Strlič, Matija (author), Rijavec, Tjaša (author)

The degradation of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) is a potential risk to the objects themselves and their surroundings. In this work, we study the acidic emissions produced during the thermal degradation of PVC to assess their contribution to indoor pollution and to improve the understanding of hydrogen chloride (HCl) emissions. With surface emission experiments, we have shown that the process of HCl emissions exhibits a two-phase behaviour. Prediction of HCl emission rate at 25 °C and modelling the steady-state concentration of HCl in a museum storage box enabled us to conclude that PVC objects emit HCl at rates that are too low to significantly contribute to environmental pollution in heritage collections. However, we demonstrated significant formation of formic and acetic acid. The latter is likely the main acidic compound responsible for the negative impact in the paper Oddy test, observed for all the tested PVC materials.

• Language: English
• Keywords: PVC, dehydrochlorination, box model, pollution, air quality, prediction, heritage science
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FKKT - Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 8 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 13, art. 382
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-171275
• UDC: 678.743.2:7.025:543.2/.9
• ISSN on article: 3059-3220
• DOI: 10.1038/s40494-025-01955-w
• COBISS.SI-ID: 246229507
• Publication date in RUL: 22.08.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Npj heritage science
• Shortened title: npj herit. sci.
• Publisher: Nature Portfolio
• ISSN: 3059-3220
• COBISS.SI-ID: 237419523

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: PVC, dehidroklorinacija, model škatle, onesnaženje, kvaliteta zraka, napoved, dediščinska znanost