Fracture toughening behavior and mechanical properties of polyphenylene oxide/high-impact polystyrene blends

Blends of a poly(phenylene oxide) (PPO) with high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) were injection molded. The static mechanical properties and fracture toughness of the blends were determined by means of the uniaxial tension, Brinell hardness and three-point-bending measurements. From the static mechanical test results, it was shown that the yield strength, Young's modulus and hardness values of the PPO/HIPS blends were considerably higher than those of their PPO and HIPS component polymers. Dynamic mechanical measurements indicated that the PPO/HIPS blends appear to be miscible as shown by the existence of a single glass transition temperature. Furthermore, the J integral method based on ASTM E813-89 procedure was used to characterize the fracture toughness of PPO/HIPS blends. The J integral analysis indicated that the PPO specimen exhibited the lowest fracture toughness (J_c). The PPO containing 50 wt% HIPS blend had the highest J_c. SEM observations revealed that the crack growth zone of the pure PPO is relatively smooth. However, cavitation of the elastomeric particles and shear band formation were observed in the deformed zones ahead of the crack tip of the PPO with 50 wt% HIPS blend. The cavitation and shear band formation would dissipate bulk strain energy and their formation was responsible for the highest J_c value observed in this blend.     

Tensile and impact behavior of drawn polystyrene and high-impact polystyrene

The tensile behaviors of drawn polystyrene (PS) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) were examined systematically in the wide range of strain rate, 1.7 × 10^?4–13.1 m/s, without changing the mode of deformation and the shape of the test pieces. It was found for both PS and HIPS that the flexion points of birefringence with increase of draw ratio are intimately correlated with the tensile properties. Especially, the breaking strain and energy of undrawn and drawn HIPS were assigned to the contributions of the following three toughening mechanisms: (a) the generation of large numbers of microcrazes from the equatorial zone of the dispersed rubber particles; (b) the extension of interfacial rubber phase around the circumpolar zone of the dispersed rubber particles and its disintegration from the matrix component; and (c) the shear band formation of the matrix component followed by cold drawing. These mechanisms were discussed in connection with the factors of stress concentration to the rubber particles, hydrostatic pressure effect arising from the difference in Poisson's ratio of rubber and matrix components, and heat generation due to the adiabatic deformation.     

Ultrahigh compressive strength and heat resistance of polystyrene/polyphenylene oxide foams of supercritical carbon dioxide foaming

Polystyrene (PS) foam materials are lightweight, but suffer from poor compressive strength and heat resistance, among other problems, which limit their application. Herein, a method for preparing PS foam with high compressive strength and high heat resistance using supercritical CO₂ is proposed. PS/polyphenylene oxide (PPO) blends were prepared using a corotating intermeshing twin-screw extruder. The results showed that PPO exhibited excellent molecular-level compatibility with PS, which substantially improved mechanical properties and heat resistance of PS. Foam samples of PS/PPO blends with the same expansion ratio were prepared via batch foaming experiments, and the compressive strength of different foams was determined at different temperatures. At room temperature, the compressive strength of the PS/PPO-30% foam increased by 173% compared with pure PS foam. As the testing temperature increased from 30 to 120°C, the compressive strength of pure PS foams decreased rapidly. Nevertheless, PS/PPO foams maintained high compressive strength at high temperatures.     

Studies on the rheological behavior of high-impact polystyrene prepolymerizing systems

The rheological behavior of high-impact polystyrene prepolymer and its two phases separated by ultracentrifugation was studied. The viscosities of prepolymer, polystyrene phase, and rubber phase were correlated with various parameters, and a quantitative relationship among these three viscosities was proposed.     

Effects of extrusion on the structure and properties of high-impact polystyrene

A commercial heat-resistant polystyrene (M?_n = 7 × 10⁴, M?_w = 3 × 10⁵), containing 9 percent cis-1, 4-polybutadiene, was extruded either repeatedly (2 to 8 times) at 220°C, or else only once at a higher temperature (up to 290°C). Neither treatment significantly altered the melt rheology at 220°C (pseudoplastic, with n = 0.39), or the tensile modulus (1.5 GPa) and yield stress (20 MPa), or the material's rubber content, determined by both infrared spectrophotonietry and Wijs iodometry. Other properties, only slightly affected by recycling at 220°C, were changed after one extrusion at 290°C: elongation at tensile failure was reduced by 57 percent; in impact testing the strength was 29 percent less, and the mode of fracture (revealed by scanning electron microscopy of the surfaces) became brittle instead of ductile; the rubber particles seen in the transmission electron microscope had agglomerated and lost sphericity; and the ratio of weight-to-number-average molecular weight of the polystyrene component, calculated from gel permeation chromatograms, increased by 93 percent. Mechanical spectra (Rheovibron), from ?120 to + 120°C at 110 Hz, changed gradually with increasingly harsh treatment of the material, a peak emerging at ～50°C due to a beta relaxation of the polystyrene. Thus, good properties were retained after normal processing, but were lost after shearing at too high a temperature, probably because of destruction of entanglements and of the bonds between polystyrene and rubber.     

Thermal behavior of hydrostatically extruded polycarbonate and high-impact polystyrene

Effects of hydrostatic extrusion on the thermal properties of polycarbonate (PC) and of high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) were studied using differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) measurements. A glass transition temperature (T_g) and a peak temperature were determined from the DSC curves for both PC and HIPS extrudates. The T_g values of the PC extrudates, with a percentage reduction in area, R, from 40 to 50%, change appreciably from the value for the as–received PC. The results of the hydrostatic extrusion of the PC billets suggest that a two stage deformation process of molecular chains may be involved. Shear-banding is observed for HIPS extrudates with R = 30 to 60%; this fact indicates that a sub-glass transition (β-transition) occurs at temperatures below T_g. It is suggested that the molecular chains of the HIPS extrudate with R = 70% are oriented in the direction of hydrostatic extrusion. The deformation mechanism of molecular chains caused by the hydrostatic extrusion is discussed.     

Preparation, characterization, and supercritical carbon dioxide foaming of polystyrene/graphene oxide composites

Graphene oxide (GO) was prepared by oxidation of graphite using the Hummers method, and was modified by isocyanate to obtain dispersed GO sheets in dimethylformamide. Polystyrene (PS)/GO composites were prepared by solution blending, and their morphologies and properties were characterized. The addition of GO increased the glass transition temperature of the PS/GO composites. The storage modulus and thermal stability of the composites were also improved compared with PS. Foams of PS and PS/GO composites were prepared by supercritical carbon dioxide foaming. The composite foams exhibited slightly higher cell density and smaller cell size compared with the PS foam, indicating the GO sheets can act as heterogeneous nucleation agents.     

Dynamic mechanical and thermal properties of fire-retardant high-impact polystyrene

The interaction of a series of fire-retardant additives with high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) has been inferred from their dynamic mechanical and thermal properties. High-melting additives phase separate and act as inert filler in both the rubber and polystyrene phases, while low-melting additives raise the T_g of the rubber phase and plasticize the polystyrene phase. Antimony oxide antiplasticizes the grafted rubber phase but acts as inert filler in the polystyrene phase. The impact strength of these fire-retardant HIPS's shows good correlation with the integrated loss tangent of the rubber T_g peak indicative of large energy dissipation in the rubbery region during impact causing the matrix to craze or flow. It is also suggested that additives which are compatible with, and localized in, the polystyrene phase help retain the impact strength of HIPS.     

Cure behavior,morphology, and mechanical properties of the melt blends of epoxy with polyphenylene oxide

Cure behavior, miscibility, and phase separation have been studied in blends of polyphenylene oxide (PPO) with diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) resin and cyanate ester hardener. An autocatalytic mechanism was observed for the epoxy/PPO blends and the neat epoxy. It was also found that the epoxy/PPO blends react faster than the neat epoxy. During cure, the epoxy resin is polymerized, and the reaction‐induced phase separation is accompanied by phase inversion upon the concentration of PPO greater than 50 phr. The dynamic mechanical measurements indicate that the two‐phase character and partial mixing existed in all the mixtures. However, the two‐phase particulate morphology was not uniform especially at a low PPO content. In order to improve the uniformity and miscibility, triallylisocyanurate (TAIC) was evaluated as an in situ compatibilizer for epoxy/PPO blends. TAIC is miscible in epoxy, and the PPO chains are bound to TAIC network. SEM observations show that adding TAIC improves the miscibility and solvent resistance of the epoxy/PPO blends. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 75: 26–34, 2000     

单甘脂对聚苯乙烯挤出发泡性能的影响

利用超临界二氧化碳挤出发泡法,研究了单硬脂酸甘油脂（GMS）母粒的添加量对聚苯乙烯（PS）发泡性能的影响。采用毛细管流变仪研究了GMS添加量对PS/GMS体系的流变特性的影响,观察并测试了发泡材料的微观泡孔结构。研究结果表明,GMS的添加会降低树脂的黏度。母粒中含有的多组分GMS和少组分乙烯-醋酸乙烯（EVA）共同影响制品的表观密度、平均泡孔直径和泡孔密度等参数。在GMS添加量为1.05%,EVA添加量为0.45%时,制品的平均泡孔直径最小,泡孔密度最大。     

CO2 foaming based on polystyrene/poly(methyl methacrylate) blend and nanoclay

A poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and nanoclay composite was dispersed into polystyrene (PS) using a twin‐screw extruder. The mixture was then batch foamed with supercritical CO₂. It was found that the cell density of foams based on the blend is higher than that based on the weight average of the two pure polymer components at the same foaming conditions. The cell size decreases and the cell density increases with the increase of the PMMA domain size. One explanation is that the large PMMA domains serve as a CO₂ reservoir and the nucleation in the PS phase is enhanced by the diffusion of CO₂ from the PMMA phase to the PS phase. Very small PMMA domains cannot function as a CO₂ reservoir, and so they are not able to facilitate the nucleation. A much higher cell density and smaller cell size were observed when nanoclay was located at the interface of the PMMA and the PS domains, serving as the heterogeneous nucleating agents. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 47:103–111, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Effect of tensile strain rate on the mechanical properties of polystyrene and high-impact polystryene

The dependency of the mechanical properties (Young's modulus, maximum load, breaking strain, and breaking energy) of polystyrene (PS) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) on the tensile deformation speeds was examined without changing the mode of deformation or the shape of the test specimen. It was found that HIPS has an excellent mechanical balance compared with PS for both low (1.7 × 10^?4 to 2.9 × 10^?2 m/sec) and high (1.3–16m/sec) speeds. This is due to the following two mechanisms ( which have different time responses) originating from the dispersed rubber particles: (1) at low speeds, the generation of large numbers of microcrazes, and (2) at high speeds, tensile-orientation hardening of the rubber and cold-drawing of the PS matrix resulting from the rise in temperature accompanied by the abrupt eleongation of the rubber phases.     

The effect of rubber particle size on the mechanical properties of high-impact polystyrene

Resins having different rubber particle sizes were prepared by polymerizing impact polystyrene using different agitation rates but keeping all other parameters constant. Also, samples were made varying the amount and type of rubber and type of agitation. The impact and tensile properties of the prepared resins are studied in relation to existing theories of rubber particle reinforcement. The particle size dependence of energy absorption in impact (high intensity) and tensile (low intensity) testing appear to be opposite in nature. Energy absorption increases with increasing particle size in the high-intensity mode and decreases in low-intensity testing. Different mechanisms are, therefore, postulated to be operative in each of these two test methods.     

Novel porous fiber-based composites with excellent sound-absorbing and flame-retardant properties

Abstract

Novel ultralight porous fiber-based composites are a very attractive subject in the material chemistry and are enabled to promise applications in the sound absorption fields. In this work, it reported a facile strategy to prepare the flame-retardant, sound-absorbing, and mechanical enhancement porous fiber-based composites (PFC-EM-x) by using natural cellulose fiber, glass fiber, and flame retardant. Subsequently, the expandable microspheres (EMs) were added to construct the well-defined porous microstructure of materials for the enhancement in sound-absorbing performance. The results demonstrated that the high EMs contents had a remarkable influence on the porous structure of the composites so that the composites achieved the outstanding sound-absorbing performance and acceptable mechanical properties compared with other reported materials, especially as-prepared PFC-EM-20 composite showed excellent sound absorption at a range of high frequencies with the maximum sound absorption coefficient of 0.781 and tensile strength of 1.07?kN/m. Moreover, the limiting oxygen index values of all the samples were more than 26, both V1 and V2 rating in UL-94 test were achieved, which indicated that the obtained PFC-EM-x composites displayed outstanding flame retardancy. In summary, this study provides a facile strategy to rationally construct mechanically robust, highly efficient sound-absorbing and flame retardant ultralight composites which have promising applications in the future as green engineering materials.     

聚丙烯/粉煤灰微发泡复合材料的制备及发泡性能研究

采用化学微发泡法制备了聚丙烯/粉煤灰(PPFP1919/FA)微发泡复合材料,并对不同FA含量的PPFP1919/FA复合材料的流变性能、发泡质量及力学性能进行研究.结果表明,FA分散在PPFP1919基体中提高了复合材料的熔体强度,使熔体弹性变好,可发泡性提高;FA在发泡过程中还起到了异相成核作用,提供了成核点,从而...     

The synergy of supercritical CO2 and supercritical N2 in foaming of polystyrene for cell nucleation

This study examines the foaming behaviour of polystyrene (PS) blown with supercritical CO₂–N₂ blends. This is achieved by observing their foaming processes in situ using a visualization system within a high-temperature/high-pressure view-cell. Through analyzing the cell nucleation and growth processes, the foaming mechanisms of PS blown with supercritical CO₂–N₂ blends have been studied. It was observed that the 75% CO₂–25% N₂ blend yielded the highest cell densities over a wide processing temperature window, which indicates the high nucleating power of supercritical N₂ and the high foam expanding ability of supercritical CO₂ would produce synergistic effects with that ratio in batch foaming. Also, the presence of supercritical CO₂ increased the solubility of supercritical N₂ in PS, so the concentration of dissolved supercritical N₂ was higher than the prediction by the simple mixing rule. The additional supercritical N₂ further increased the cell nucleation performance. These results provide valuable directions to identify the optimal supercritical CO₂–N₂ composition for the foaming of PS to replace the hazardous blowing agents which are commonly used despite their high flammability or ozone depleting characteristics.     

Effect of temperatures on the mechanical and morphological properties of polyphenylene sulfide composites

Summary Poly(styrene-b-paramethylstyrene) block copolymer samples have been prepared in a mechanical press, cooled under pressure below the glass transition temperature and investigated by small angle neutron scattering. We observe a microphase separation transition from an orderd to a disorderd state with ascending pressure. The observed effect is not expected solely due to pressure, but the situation in the press is more complicated: (i) Ascending pressure leads to an increase of the glass transition temperature which slows down relaxations and hinders the evolution of thermodynamic equilibrium, (ii) the uniaxial movement of the piston leads to an uniaxial shear field and samples get oriented. An adiabatic heating during the pressing procedure has been found to be of minor influence. The situation is discussed with respect to common sample preparation conditions and processing.     

Effects of polyphenylene oxide content on morphology,thermal, and mechanical properties of polyphenylene oxide/polyamide 6 blends

A series of composites of PPO/PA 6 with improved toughness were synthesized by using ε‐caprolactam as a reactive solvent. Inserting minor PPO macromolecules (1–3 wt %) into PA 6 matrix obviously reduced the crystallinity of PA6. Two crystallization temperatures were found when 6 wt % PPO was added. SEM revealed that the phase morphology of the composites could be manipulated by varying the content of PPO in PA 6. As a consequence, the impact strength and the elongation of PPO/PA6 were improved with maintenance of tensile strength when quite small content of PPO (1–3 wt %) was incorporated. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2006     

The continuous measurement of the damping and fatigue properties of high-impact polystyrene with a controlled-amplitude torsion pendulum

Torsional damping and fatigue studies were made on high-impact polystyrene using a controlled-amplitude, continuously recording torsion pendulum. The damping behavior was measured as a function of the angular displacement, axial tensile stress, and the number of repeated cycles. At a critical axial tensile stress, the damping behavior changed from amplitude-independent to amplitude-dependent behavior. Damping measurements on high-impact polystyrene specimens that had been previously crazed in tension showed that both the damping and the tensile stress necessary to produce amplitude-dependent damping varied with the orientation of the craze. Repeated cycling of HIPS specimens produced crazing and amplitude-dependent damping at a tensile stress below that expected from simple static tensile loading. Scanning electron micrographs of fracture surfaces from these specimens revealed that the rubber particles could be clearly distinguished from the surrounding matrix.     

Mechanical properties and foaming behavior of cellulose fiber reinforced high‐density polyethylene composites

This article investigates the effects of fiber length and maleated polymers on the mechanical properties and foaming behavior of cellulose fiber reinforced high‐density polyethylene composites. The results from the mechanical tests suggested that long fibers provided higher flexural and impact properties than short fibers. In addition, the maleated high‐density polyethylene increased flexural strength significantly, while the maleated thermoplastic elastormers increased notched Izod impact strength dramatically. On the other hand, the results from the extrusion foaming indicated that the composites with long and short fibers demonstrated similar cell morphology, i.e., a similar average cell size and cell size distribution. However, the addition of maleated high‐density polyethylene caused an increase of the average cell size and cell size distribution in the composites. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2009. © 2009 Society of Plastics Engineers