Methods for determination of plasticizer migration from polyvinyl chloride synthetic materials: a mini review

Plasticizer migration is responsible for premature coating failure in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) synthetic materials that continue to benefit our daily life as a reliable and cost-efficient simulant of genuine leather. In this context, the establishment of standard assays that measure the migration rate of plasticizers under varying scenarios plays a pivotal role in comparing durability of those PVC-derived leather-simulants. In this review, multiple methodologies developed over the last decade for determining plasticizer migration from PVC coating are compiled, with their operational principles, merits, and limitations being taken into consideration along with specific apparatus required for each. A concluding section discusses current challenges in this field, and highlights how nuclear magnetic resonance and computational simulation surpass conventional assays in yielding intercomparable results, and hence screening migration-resistant plasticizers in a labor- and time-saving way. Since migration resistance represents a decisive performance indicator of plasticizers, this systematic review may provide guidance to quite a few practitioners in PVC synthetic material industry, who are now engaged in validating various sustainable alternatives with performance allegedly equal to conventional but toxic di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate plasticizer.

Graphical abstract