POLY(p-PHENYLENE SULFIDE)—AN OVERVIEW OF AN IMPORTANT ENGINEERING THERMOPLASTIC

Abstract Among the various high temperature polymers, those based on aromatic units, such as poly(2, 6-dimethylphenylene oxide) (PPO), poly(pheny1ene sulfide) (PPS), poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), and poly(ether sulfone) (PES), have attracted much attention in the last few years due to their good thermal and chemical resistance. One of these polymers, PPS, is also an important high strength/high temperature engineering thermoplastic that is finding increasing use in technological applications such as molding resins, fibers, and matrices for thermoplastic composites. PPS consists of para-phenylene units alternating with sulfide linkages. The first known report of its synthesis was by Grenvesse in 1898 [1]. However, interest in the synthesis of PPS only began in 1948 when Macallum 121 described the preparation of phenylene sulfide polymers by the melt reaction of p-dichlorobenzene with sodium carbonate and sulfur. Further investigation on the synthesis of PPS by Lenz and coworkers [3–5], and later by Edmo...