Abstract
Thermal analysis, mass spectrometry-coupled, of partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohols, for suspension polyvinyl chloride technology, showed that the reduced blockiness of low hydrolyzed product induced a low thermal stability with three degradation stages. When high blockiness is obtained, thermal stabilities in excess of 273°C are attained, regardless the hydrolysis degree. Glass transition of polyvinyl acetate segments is always present for hydrolysis degree ranging from 47.8 to 88.7 mol %. The melting transition is exhibited only by samples with hydrolysis degree higher than 74 mol %. Keywords: polyvinyl alcohol, TGA-MS, thermal stability, polyvinyl chloride