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How is polyvinyl chloride made from vinyl chloride?

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Diagram illustrating a homopolymer arrangement using polyvinyl chloride as an example, showing a chain of identical repeating vinyl chloride units with the chemical structure highlighted. — polymer Industrial polymers are synthesized from simple compounds joined together to form long chains. For example, polyvinyl chloride is an industrial homopolymer synthesized from repeating units of vinyl chloride.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is manufactured through the polymerization of vinyl chloride monomers. This process is typically carried out using bulk, solution, suspension, or emulsion methods in the presence of free-radical initiators.12

During this chemical reaction, the double bond within the vinyl chloride monomer ( $C H_{2} = C H C l$ ) is opened. One of the resulting single bonds is then utilized to link thousands of these monomer units together into a long, linear polymer chain.2

Because vinyl chloride is a toxic and carcinogenic gas, its industrial production and subsequent polymerization must be handled under strict protective procedures. Once polymerized, the resulting PVC is a rigid material that is often processed with plasticizers to create more flexible products, such as floor tiles, garden hoses, and upholstery.12