Melt Compounding and Mechanical Properties of Polyphenylene Sulfide/Low Melting-temperature Glass Composites

Polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) with the melt temperature about 280 degrees C and low-melting temperature glasses (LMTG) with the soft-temperature (T-s) about 325 degrees C were used to prepare PPS/LMTG organic-inorganic hybrids by melt compounding above both characteristic temperatures. The surfaces of PPS/LMTG prepared at different processing conditions were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Meanwhile, the mechanical properties for the composites marked as PPS/LMTG300 and PPS/LMTG400 prepared below and above T-s of LMTG respectively were investigated. The results indicate that liquid-liquid melt compounding is feasible in a wide temperature range from 325 degrees C to 450 degrees C for the selected composites. The SEM images show that dispersed phase in situ morphologies are influenced significantly by processing temperature, shear time and the mixer rotation speed. During liquid-liquid compounding, the dispersed phase, i.e. LMTG drops, goes through a series of process of deformation, break-up, coalescence and recovery in shearing field, similar to the evolution of dispersed polymer phase in immiscible blends with sea-island structure. Compared with PPS/LMTG300, the size of in situ morphology for LMTG phase in PPS/LMTG400 obtained by liquid-liquid melt compounding is much smaller, leading to weaker interfacial interaction between the filler and matrix. In addition, LMTG particles still have an excellent strengthening effect on PPS/LMTG400 containing 66 wt% inorganic filler since particle dispersion is improved by liquid-liquid compounding.