Preparation of PPS-Based Nanocomposites and Delamination of Layered Titanate Fillers
Organically-modified layered titanates (OMLTs) were used as new layered fillers to prepare poly(p-phenylenesulfide) (PPS)-based nanocomposites. The melt mixing of PPS with any OMLT led to the delamination of stacked titanate layers, regardless of the miscibility between intercalants of OMLTs and PPS, and attained a nanoscale dispersion of titanate layers which is an exfoliation structure in the PPS matrix. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement confirmed that titanate layers were successfully dispersed in the PPS matrix. OMLTs had a specific delamination mechanism, which is governed by melt mixing temperatures. In the melt processing at high temperature, the delamination of stacked-layers in OMLTs was facilitated by retaining an initial interlayer spacing of the layered structure and decreasing the surface charge density of the titanate crystal.