Improvement of the Toughness and Crack Propagation Resistance Properties of Poly(Phenylene Sulfide)

Poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) is a high-performance thermoplastic engineering polymer, which exhibits outstanding properties such as electrical insulation, dimensional and thermal stability, chemical resistance, etc. In addition to this, PPS has a high degree of crystallinity and it exhibits good physical properties at elevated temperatures. Owing to these properties, PPS is widely used in electrical and electronic components, automobile industry and mechanical applications. These outstanding properties of PPS can be attributed to its chemical structure, composed of phenyl groups linked by a sulfur atom, which gives rigidity to the chain. On the other hand, the brittleness with low elongation strain, toughness and crack propagation resistance also restricts its further applications. Several methods are used to overcome these undesirable properties of PPS. Blending of PPS with other polymers is one of these methods. In this study, Ethylene-Acrylic Ester-Glycidyl Methacrylate terpolymer (Lotader®-AX8900) was used to improve the toughness and crack propagation resistance properties of PPS. For this purpose, PPS/Lotader (0, 2, 5, 10 wt.% Lotader) blends were prepared at various compositions. The blends were manufactured using laboratory scale twin screw extruder and injection molding machine. Mechanical properties of blends were investigated by using tensile test method. In addition to this, crack propagation and toughness of samples were investigated by using essential work of fracture (EWF) method. As a result of this study, it was found that Lotader addition significantly increases the toughness and crack propagation resistance of PPS.