Quo vadis progress in polymer stabilization?

Abstract

Synthetic polymers processed and applied in practice undergo degradation changes that result in the potential loss of physico-chemical properties. Polymer stabilizers are used to prevent these changes and help the polymer utility properties get retained. Despite the visible progress in other fields of human activity, polymer stabilization chemistry has exhibited only minimum changes. No new chemistry of polymer stabilization has been introduced within the several past decades. All the “new” stabilizers promoted by different suppliers were mostly the modifications of the existing ones. Any new and commercially really successful stabilizer capable of competing the performance of old existing structures has not appeared on the market for many years.Synthetic polymers processed and applied in practice undergo degradation changes that result in the potential loss of physico-chemical properties. Polymer stabilizers are used to prevent these changes and help the polymer utility properties get retained. Despite the visible progress in other fields of human activity, polymer stabilization chemistry has exhibited only minimum changes. No new chemistry of polymer stabilization has been introduced within the several past decades. All the “new” stabilizers promoted by different suppliers were mostly the modifications of the existing ones. Any new and commercially really successful stabilizer capable of competing the performance of old existing structures has not appeared on the market for many years.