[azmanam]

No, no metaphorically.  Does anyone know how to chemically dissolve credit cards.  The plastic polymer is polyvinyl chloride acetate.  Chosen precisely because it is so chemically resistant.  I've seen chemical degradation tables for lots of polymers, but none that seem to specifically include PVCA.  I've tried nitric acid, aqua regia, and piranha mix (sulfuric acid/hydrogen peroxide).  Even after scoring the plastic with a razor blade to expose more surface area, still no break down or dissolution.

Any ideas?  Any polymer chemists on the boards today?

(yes, I am really trying to dissolve a credit card.  It's for a video contest of creative ways to stop using credit cards.)

[Dan]

Dichloromethane dissolves some plastics, at least my rulers and calculators. I'm no polymer chemist but you could give that a try.

[gfunk]

Fluoroantimonic acid?  If it can dissolve wax, maybe it can dissolve PVCA too?

[nj_bartel]

^^If you do this azmanam, you MUST post the video!

[408]

H2SO4 and KMnO4
boiling 100% nitric acid...it dissolves latex instantly

link to contest?

[kiwi]

How about something to swell the polymer and cause it to fall apart? I'm not a polymer chemist, but I have noticed in the lab that chlorinated solvents (and THF, especially when hot) make short work of a number of plastics.

EDIT: a quick google reveals that PVC can be dissolved in either cyclohexanone, tetrachloroethane, THF or DMF. And at least one PVC/PVA copolymer is soluble in acetone. Worth a try?

[azmanam]

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I'll have to give them a try!  playing around today, I took my test shards that had been in the aforementioned acids and put them in DMF (noted to be incompatable with PVA and PVC), and the color started dissolving right away.  after 30 min-1hr it had curled up on itself in a rubbery white strip of plastic (all the color had seeped out).  not completely dissolved... but it's something.

Thanks for the interest in the video/contest.  'Contest' may not be the right word, per se.  It's not that the best entry wins first place or anything.  It's for the Dave Ramsey Show (all over the radio, and recently on Fox Business, http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/baby_steps_2867.htmlc).  It's a program we started at the beginning of this year.  Basically his money management theory is: your biggest long term wealth building tool is your paycheck.  If half your paycheck is rent/mortgage, another $400 for a car, plus student loans, and more to a few credit cards... you can get buy but it's hard to build solid wealth over time.  So his plan involves getting out of debt as quickly as possible... then not going  back into debt ever again.  The visual way to commit is to cut up the credit cards - to undergo a "plasectomy."  Every Friday, he plays a handful of videos on the air if they're good enough.  If it makes it on air, you win a basketfull of prizes.

Here's the closest thing to a link I could find... not a formal entry form, but a general overview. - http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/cms/dave_fox_business_network_7703.htmlc

(I don't know if that bored you or intrigued you... I'm fully committed to the plan.  If you want more info, pm me and we can talk about it.)

[408]

Not going to lie, was hoping for cash prizes

Dipping in molten lead should do it.